The Flin Flon school board recently announced it is developing a policy around transgender rights in the schools, a sensitive topic that has ignited controversy in other jurisdictions.
Trustees have directed Superintendent of Schools Blaine Veitch to review other boards’ guidelines around this issue and develop a draft policy for trustee review. It’s not known when the policy will be finalized or what it will include.
The Reminder reviewed some of these cases.
Q: What is the meaning of “transgender”?
A: The dictionary definition is this: “Denoting or relating to a person whose self-identity does not conform unambiguously to conventional notions of male or female gender.”
Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) defines transgender as an umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or gender expression differs from what is typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth.
Q: Why is the school board looking to establish a policy around transgender students?
A: Trustee Trish Sattelberger, board chairwoman, says the decision stems from Manitoba legislation around individual rights.
When asked about the province’s position on the matter, spokesman Andrew Tod told The Reminder: “School divisions are required to have a respect for human diversity policy and their policies must be consistent with the Human Rights Code and the province’s anti-bullying legislation.”
Q: How have other school boards sought to accommodate transgender students?
A: Guidelines in Nova Scotia allow transgender students to choose a name and pronoun (“he” or “she”) by which they will be addressed, though their legal name must be used on report cards and diplomas, according to the Chronicle Herald.
A growing number of schools have gender-neutral washrooms and change rooms for transgender students.
Recently, Moose Jaw’s Catholic high school opened a gender-neutral washroom with Geri Hall, superintendent of that school division, declaring it “another way that we provide a safe and healthy environment for all students,” according to the Moose Jaw Times Herald.
Q: Do Flin Flon schools have gender-neutral washrooms?
A: Not at this time, though some students at Hapnot Collegiate have discussed the concept. Sattelberger confirmed the concept is part of her board’s policy review process.
Q: Do schools ever let transgender students use washrooms assigned to the opposite physical gender?
A: Yes. This is allowed under policies in Vancouver and Nova Scotia, two jurisdictions the Flin Flon school board is studying as it devises its own policy.
This is a far more controversial proposition than a gender-neutral washroom. In 2014, for instance, a group of parents sued the Vancouver School Board over the policy, according to the National Post.
“Some students are uncomfortable with sharing very personal information or private spaces with members of the opposite sex and deeply care about their privacy when using the washroom or change room,” read a court petition filed by the parents, as quoted by the Post.
Q: Is there anything to prevent Flin Flon schools from allowing students to use the washroom of the opposite gender?
A: No. If trustees were to choose this route, it would be permitted.
“Decisions regarding requests for accommodation, including washroom access, are the responsibility of the school division and must be consistent with the [Human Rights] Code and policies of the Human Rights Commission,” Tod, the provincial spokesman, said.
Tod said it is “completely consistent with the Code” for a school division to establish a gender-neutral washroom or for a transgender student to use “the gender-identified washroom. Again, the responsibility to decide lies with the school division.”
Additionally, Tara Seel, a spokeswoman for the RCMP in Manitoba, confirmed there is no law against people of one gender entering the washroom of the opposite gender.
“Actions perpetrated after entering the washroom could be illegal, depending on the specifics of that behaviour,” said Seel, mentioning harassment, peeping and other inappropriate behaviour as examples.
Q: Does the Flin Flon school division have any transgender students?
A: Sattelberger says she does not know the answer to this question and adds this would be a personal matter for those individuals.
But if the division does encounter this issue, she says, it wants to ensure fairness.
