A month after major nationwide protests against gender identity policies in schools, Saturday’s demand drew far fewer participants.
In Toronto, where thousands of demonstrators and counter-demonstrators clashed on September 20, only about a hundred people gathered in front of the Ontario Parliament to protest against the teaching of “gender ideology” in schools.
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In Toronto, protesters were quickly surrounded by defenders of the rights of the LGBTQ+ community under the watchful eye of police.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Ken Townsend
A few minutes later, hundreds of counter-protesters with LGBTQ+ flags surrounded them under the watchful gaze of police. There was no overflow Saturday morning.
Books [en salle de classe] I’m worrying. In my opinion they are pornographic, says protester Deborah Harper, who is nevertheless proud to have helped found an LGBTQ+ organization in southwestern Ontario.
However, she believes that under no circumstances should children be exposed to sexual language at school.
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Clashes broke out between demonstrators and counter-demonstrators in front of Queen’s Park in Toronto.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Ken Townsend
They will learn, just like we did during puberty. Then they have to learn, and then their parents will teach them, she says.
It is very important to teach acceptance for everyone. “It’s simple,” said Jason Kunin, a high school teacher.
The function of the school in society is to socialize young people and enable them to live in a tolerant and inclusive society, he says.
In Ottawa, a demonstration outside the Canadian Parliament by one of the leading figures in the movement against gender ideology was canceled for fear of spiraling out of control in connection with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In Moncton, it was instead protesters from the LGBTQ+ community who took to the streets of the city center for a march of hope and love. Nearly 200 people demonstrated to remind people of the importance of defending the rights of the LGBTQ+ community.
“The fact that I was able to explore myself at school and then be in an environment where I was respected saved my life on more than one occasion,” says one of the young people who took part in the walk.
Counter-protesters at the Montreal rally
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In Montreal, counter-protesters gathered despite the rain and found no protesters in front of them.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Gabrielle Proulx
In Montreal, a planned demonstration against “gender ideology” was canceled, but around a hundred counter-protesters marched with banners reading “Anarchists Against Transphobia,” or “Pink Bloc,” the name of a collective that defines itself as queer revolutionary anti-capitalist. In sparse rows, dozens of trans and rain-soaked advocates expressed their support for the LGBTQ+ community.
“We are here to support each other, the law is on our side,” recalled participant Loïc Bizeul, waving an umbrella and an LGBTQ+ flag in the same hand.
“What’s happening in certain Canadian provinces is something we definitely don’t want to happen in Quebec,” he added, referring to the recent passage of a parental rights bill in Saskatchewan. This new law makes it mandatory for school staff to obtain parental consent to use the name and pronoun chosen by a student under 16 years of age.
For his part, Nicolas Côté-Saucier, a doctoral student in anthropology at York University specializing in sexuality and gender, explains that the demonstrators protesting against the teaching of gender ideology in schools want to deny reality. The goal of [l’éducation] is the training of citizens. The curriculum is [créé] by asking the question, “What do we want the average person to know?” However, according to him, these protesters affirm: “The average citizen should not be transsexual, should not be gay or lesbian.” This is a profound protest. […] It is an exclusion of sexual and gender diversity [le concept général] of the citizen.
gender education, gender identity, [l’identité] is not intended to sexualize children. His aim is to educate those who are going through this experience and give them the tools to understand what they are going through, concludes Mr. Côté-Saucier.
With information from Andréane Williams, Mariève Bégin and Gabrielle Proulx