LGBTTQ+ community in Winnipeg sending message to Brandon School Board

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/05/2023 (863 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LGBTTQ+ residents rallied in the Manitoba capital with pride flags as trustees reconvened in a boardroom 200 kilometres west of Winnipeg to answer a request to remove books with trans and queer characters from school shelves.

Mandalyn Unger organized the Tuesday rally at the Manitoba legislature at 7 p.m., which is when the Brandon School Board began its latest meeting — the first public session since about two dozen people showed up to call for book banning.

“I would’ve liked to have gone out to Brandon to show support, but that’s not accessible or possible for everybody and so I thought maybe other folks are feeling the same way and if so, we should have a space to gather,” said Unger, who is queer and non-binary.

The Winnipeg-based organizer said they wanted the local gathering to send a message to school board members across the province: “We’re watching what’s happening, we’re concerned and we’re not going to suffer silently.”

On May 8, former trustee Lorraine Hackenschmidt, alongside a group of supporters, asked elected officials in Brandon to get rid of reading material that discusses gender identity and sexuality.

Two trustees, one of whom applauded the presenter for her courage, thanked the attendees for raising the issue.

The titles in question include award-winning memoir Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen, by Jazz Jennings; Toni Morrison’s 1970 novel The Bluest Eye; and It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health, a children’s book by Robie Harris.

“We must protect our children from sexual grooming and pedophilia; the sexualization agenda is robbing children of their innocence and opening the door to sexual abuse,” said Hackenschmidt, echoing a popular religious conservative argument against queer content, at the meeting earlier this month.

The Manitoba Teachers’ Society took out a full-page weekend advertisement in the Brandon Sun to condemn that “entirely false narrative (which is) tantamount to hate speech” and the general act of book banning.

Union leader Nathan Martindale travelled 2 1/2 hours to attend the Tuesday meeting in solidarity with LGBTTQ+ students, teachers and the head of the Brandon chapter of MTS — one of 31 local residents who signed up to speak about the subject.

The lengthy board meeting agenda indicates the division office had received 289 emails and letters about Hackenschmidt’s request to strike a committee to review school books, as of May 19 at noon.

“By far, the preponderance of communications were in opposition to the delegation,” states an excerpt of the document, which notes six respondents supported the idea put forward.

Roughly 200 people gathered on the legislature grounds in Winnipeg to listen to speeches and read the kinds of books critics are deeming problematic.

Grade 7 student Arlo Swaenepoel attended the rally donning a transgender flag with light blue, pink and white stripes on it.

“(Book bans) don’t work. They never have,” the 12-year-old said.

Martindale said some rural teachers have expressed concerns about being targeted because of their sexual orientation or gender identity in the wake of the Brandon presentation.

The MTS president also cited the union’s code of professional practice (“a member’s first professional responsibility is to the member’s students”) as reason to be vocal about this issue.

“For a lot of students, these types of books that are available to them are lifelines. They learn, they see themselves reflected in books and they also count on schools to be safe spaces,” added Martindale, who represents upwards of 16,600 public school teachers.

The Manitoba School Boards Association’s position is local concerns are best addressed at a local level — although its leaders can provide trustees with guidance on policy-making.

“We recognize that there are going to be conflicting thoughts and opinions on not only this (book ban) topic, but any number of topics amongst trustees and boards,” said MSBA president Sandy Nemeth, who is a longtime trustee in Winnipeg.

At the same time, the Louis Riel School Division’s board of trustees — on which Nemeth sits — has made clear its stance on removing books from shelves in kindergarten to Grade 12 classrooms and facilities.

“School libraries should offer learning resources and reading material that motivates students to think critically, reflect on their personal beliefs, and to understand their responsibilities and rights as citizens,” states a public declaration the board made earlier this month.

“This includes books that allow students and members of our divisional family to see themselves as valued and respected members of society, including the (LGBTTQ+) community.”

Unger said they wished there were more diverse books in the library at the public school they attended, because reading such content would have helped them understand themselves earlier on in life.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Head Start

Weekday Mornings

A quick glance at the news for the upcoming day.

Sign up for Head Start

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

“Even if you do get those books taken off the shelf, you can’t disappear queer and trans people, queer and trans kids. We’ve always been here. We’re always going to be here — all you’re doing is making life harder for already vulnerable people.”

Prior to the meeting, Brandon administration indicated the reading materials that have sparked controversy remain available to students and staff via its school libraries.

An internal division policy on human diversity states its libraries “will strive to have the best and most up-to-date collection of age-appropriate books on sexual orientation and gender identity issues and topics.”

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie

Maggie Macintosh
Education reporter

Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie.

Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative.

Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.