Shifts in how sex and gender identity are defined may alter human rights protections: Canadians deserve to know how and why

By Debra M Haak, Queen's University, Ontario

Recent education policy changes and protests about sex education reveal increasing concern and polarization over how sex and gender identity are taught in public schools in Canada. They also expose the significant role now played by school boards in constructing the meaning of gender identity and gender expression.

Marches took place across Canada in September under the banner, “1 Million March for Children.” Changes recently announced by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith will, if enacted into law, exclude students from lessons on gender identity and sexual orientation unless parents opt in. Other provinces like Saskatchewan allow parents to opt children out of sex education classes.

Many fear proposed policy changes — which extend beyond what is taught in sex education classes — will harm transgender and non-binary youth. The proposed Alberta policies have been condemned as anti-trans by organizations including Canada’s largest private sector union and Amnesty International.

Politicians across the political spectrum have been quick to politicize this issue, flattening it into a discourse pitting parental rights against trans children’s best interests. But amplifying rhetoric will not help us understand what is happening and what it means.

My research is focused on promoting conceptual clarity around human rights protections based on sex and those based on gender identity in a research project, “Sex in the Age of Gender.” This research is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Canadian Bar Association Law for the Future Fund. I started this research because language matters to law.

Changes in how words and terms are used can impact our ability to know about people’s lives and protect their rights. Significant shifts are taking place around how we define and understand sex and gender in education and public policy in Canada. We need to pay attention to what is changing and to what those changes might mean.

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