Photo credit: X (formerly Twitter) courtesy Ian Hanna

New legislation concerning students and self-identifying pronouns has drawn a lot of fire including a protest which was organized for Saturday in front of the Legislative building in Regina. When Saskatchewan teacher Brendan Dickie heard the news, he and several others organized the protest. Dickie says with the new policy, if a child is using pronouns at school that don’t match the ones in the database, teachers are expected to contact the child’s parents and inform them. He adds that this can be harmful, as not every child comes from an accepting family.

As of August 22nd, the provincial government and Education Minister Dustin Duncan announced a policy that requires Saskatchewan children under the age of 16 to get parental consent if they want to change their name or pronouns in the classroom.

The event, called Show UP for Saskatchewan’s Trans Youth, has already received 1,200 responses on Facebook, from people saying they are either attending or interested in going. Dickie says wherever he has traveled to teach, there are always people that are trying to claw back the equality that the queer community has fought for. He intends to continue the fight on Saturday.

Since his announcement in late August, Dustin Duncan changed portfolios.  He has been moved from Education Minister to Minister of Crown Investments Corporation.