October 11, 2012
The practicality of human rights commission rulings hit education hard last week in Toronto. The Toronto District School Board has implemented a policy which allows any individual who is ‘feeling’ a different gender than they were ‘assigned at birth’ to use the public school washroom of their gender choice. No medical documentation to ‘prove’ their gender is required and no individual may question a person’s motives for using a bathroom inconsistent with their ‘gender assigned at birth’.
Practical Application: The practical application of this policy is that anyone on Toronto District property can use any bathroom at any time. During school hours, Toronto District parents are faced with the reality that ‘physical’ men and older boys will be welcome to use the same bathroom as their little girls.
Where did this new Policy come from? A Human Rights Commission ruling
Ryan Bird, Communications Officer for the Toronto Disctrict School Board responded to the question of “Where did this policy come from?” He stated, “... this came out of a mediation decision from the Ontario Human Rights Commission last year between the TDSB and a student. So this is coming out from the Ontario Human Rights Commission. So we are taking our lead from them in putting together these guidelines.” http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/video/1876267283001
Human Rights Commissions non-judicial rulings ARE affecting education in a significant way.
What can we do in Alberta?
2.Learn more about Provincial and Federal human rights legislation and speak to your MLA about your concerns.