Kelsey Robbins, professional director of St. Albert’s Outloud, a non-profit that supports 2SLGBTQI+ children, describes the group of young persons, as well as friends and support staff, as frightened, appalled, and terrified.
In response to Premier Danielle Smith’s announcement, the UCP government intends to introduce legislation restricting the transgender youth of Alberta from accessing healthcare.
For students under 15, the province may adopt Saskatchewan’s policy of requiring parental consent before changing pronouns. Additionally, it will mandate that institutions inform parents of gender identity shifts for children between the ages of 16 and 17. It will also require parents to choose whether to participate in sex education or any education involving gender identity or sexual orientation, among other changes.
“We knew that something was coming. However, this is more cruel than we could have ever imagined for our area,” Robbins remarked.
Robbins claimed that the province previously contacted Outloud, which works closely with transgender people, to find out how the measures might impact children.
Instead, Outloud reached out to UCP politicians like St. Albert MLA Dale Nally, who is also the chancellor of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction, as well as Tanya Fir, minister for Arts, Culture, and Status of Women.
“Our community’s emotional health is not good at the moment because everyone can see this coming. And we were very clear about how unhealthy this was. This was risky because it would increase the number of suicide attempts,” Robbins said.
After Nally expressed his support for Smith’s policy statement at a news conference on Monday, Robbins “had a truly good cry.”
“It just had the exact same development from the discussions we’ve had, and it was disheartening to see. We believed we were being heard,” they said.
Robbins had anticipated a government announcement stating that pronoun shifts in schools would need parental consent. However, they claimed that the proposed restrictions on hormone treatment for children 15 and under, as well as on puberty blockers, came as a surprise.
“Our children have parents who are currently in crisis trying to support their youth. Simply put, we’re trying to keep children alive,” they added.
Young people are visiting Robbins out of concern that their trans friends will be exposed to unsupportive parents, they claimed.
“Every LGBTQ+ space you enter right now is filled with an absurd amount of fear as well as sadness,” they said.
Robbins worries that once the education department is in charge of approving all third-party materials on physical education and gender identity, Outloud’s in-school support programs may be eliminated.
“We support children who are already marginalized and who now possess these things about themselves. We assist them in experiencing love and acceptance. That is currently being twisted into something we are not doing. We have a lot of support from the school districts, so it’s unfortunate that we can’t go back,” Robbins stated.
The Stepping Stone Foundation and the 2SLGBTQI+ organizations Egale Canada declared they would sue the state.
According to Robbins, Outloud will help and ensure the safety of the 2SLGBTQI+ community in the upcoming months.
“This is a clear attack on an already-protected group,” according to Robbins.
