Canadian parents believe schools should inform them if child wants to change pronouns: poll

Should a school inform Canadian parents if their child wants to change their pronouns? It’s been a hot-button issue in some provinces, and a new poll finds a lot of support for parents to get a call in that scenario.

According to a new poll by the Angus Reid Institute, if a student wants to change the pronouns of the sex they were assigned at birth, 78 per cent of those surveyed say parents need to be informed of this by the school.

There is more of a split regarding schools needing parents to consent to changing pronouns. Four-in-10 people polled believe there should be parental consent, while nearly half disagree.

Canadians with children younger than 18 feel more strongly about consent than those without school-aged children (48 per cent to 41 per cent).

Last week, Saskatchewan joined New Brunswick in adopting a new gender and pronoun policy for schools, which would require parental consent for students who wish to change their preferred name or pronouns. Photo: The Angus Reid Institute.

Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce said parents “must be fully involved” to understand what’s happening in the lives of their children.

“Often there are health implications, and we have to respect the rights of parents and recognize that these can be life-changing decisions,” Lecce said at a press conference on Monday.

“I think parents want to be involved so that they can support their kids. And I think that’s a really important principle that we must uphold.”

The survey found that the strongest support for consent came in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, while Atlantic provinces gave it the lowest approval. Federally, the poll finds Conservative supporters are more than twice as likely to say parents need to approve a pronoun change than Liberal or New Democratic Party (NDP) voters.

RELATED: LGBTQ advocates in Saskatchewan gear up for human rights fight over pronoun rules

Saskatchewan has mandated parental consent for the coming school year, as has New Brunswick. In Manitoba, it has become an election issue.

Last week, Saskatchewan Education Minister Dustin Duncan announced the changes he said stemmed from concerns he heard from some parents and teachers.

Duncan also announced parents could pull their children from all or some sexual education courses and that third parties could no longer teach those courses.

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association has said it’s considering legal challenges against Saskatchewan for the move, saying it puts some LGBTQ children at risk if they’re not accepted at home.

With files from The Canadian Press