Ottawa School Board Suggests Teachers Use They/Them Pronouns for All Students Starting in September

An activist holds pins about gender pronouns on the University of Wyoming campus in Laramie, Wyo., on Aug. 13, 2022. (Patrick Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)

Superintendents at an Ottawa school board sent an email to all staff suggesting they start the next school year using they/them pronouns for all students until told their preferred pronouns. It also said teachings about LGBTQ identities should be embedded in the “overall learning environment” and are not “open to debate or selective participation.”

The directive was part of an email which started by saying that staff have a “professional and legal responsibility” to ensure an inclusive environment for 2SLGBTQ+ students and families.

“The intention [of the email was] to suggest some actions that can be taken during Pride Month and beyond to promote inclusivity and belonging in our schools,” said Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) spokesperson Darcy Knoll in an email to The Epoch Times. June is Pride Month and the email was sent out on May 31.

Knoll did not respond directly when asked whether the directive extends to all age groups, including using “they/them” for kindergarten students. An OCDSB kindergarten teacher told The Epoch Times she received the email but has not yet been instructed in any staff meetings or elsewhere to act on it.

The Epoch Times also reached out to the three superintendents who sent the email, Mary Jane Farrish, Shannon Smith, and Brent Smith, but did not hear back from them directly.

An Ottawa mother whose son recently left the OCDSB told The Epoch Times she doesn’t see such measures as promoting “inclusivity.”

“I was shocked with OCDSB—so many newsletters sounded like LGBTQ propaganda as if regular subjects were not important at all but this ideology was,” said the mother, who preferred not to have her name published to protect her son’s privacy. She moved her son to the local Catholic board.

“It’s not really about diversity and inclusivity, otherwise real discussions could happen instead of the very radical attitude to counter whoever expresses doubts,” she said.

LGBTQ in All Subjects, for All Age Groups

The email included direction to staff that LGBTQ identities should be embedded into classroom resources, various curriculum subjects, and the “overall learning environment, from Kindergarten to Grade 12.”

The Ministry of Education has provided Ontario parents with an opt-out option for sex-education classes after many expressed concerns regarding how and at what age children are taught about various sexuality and gender topics.

The Epoch Times asked Knoll how the OCDSB responds to parental concerns about such topics being embedded into the overall learning environment, effectively side-stepping the opt-out option, and whether some children could receive faith-based exemptions from such instruction.

For example, the Thames Valley District School Board in London, Ont., has forged an agreement with the Muslim community to allow faith-based exemption from events and instruction that relate to sexuality and gender. Many Christians have also expressed concern.

“As a learning organization, we work to teach and promote kindness and combat hate and discrimination,” Knoll said.

“When providing learning experiences, we do not offer proactive exemptions or excuse students from the learning on the basis that we may be highlighting a particular group of people defined by their race, religion/creed, ability, sexual orientation or gender identity. This would result in sending a message that a group of people in our community is not valued and do not belong.”

The email sent to staff says opting out should not be an option.

“2SLGBTQ+ learnings should be offered to the school community without the option to opt out. It is essential to understand that human rights are not open to debate or selective participation,” it said.

It noted that families may choose to keep their children home during Pride Month learning activities, but the children cannot attend other classes for the day and opt out while at school.

The board saw high levels of absence in some of its schools on June 1, the first day of Pride Month. Knoll said two of the board’s schools had absences above 60 percent and nine others had absences above 40 percent.

Some parents indicated they didn’t want their children to attend school due to pride events, he said, others kept their children home due to the heatwave and wanting an extra long weekend ahead of the P.A. day on June 2.

Multiple school walk-outs took place across the country and many parents from various school boards have told The Epoch Times they kept their children home on June 1.

Ongoing Debates

School boards across the country have seen heated debates over the age-appropriateness of discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity, including the OCDSB.

At two of its board meetings in March, the topic of biological male students using the girls’ washroom and changeroom sparked protest.

The police were called to a meeting on March 7, though the disturbances dissipated before they needed to take action. On March 28, dozens of protesters on both sides of the issue showed up at a meeting.

While speaking as a delegate at the March 7 meeting, parent Nick Morabito questioned the safety and privacy of his daughters in the girls’ facilities but was cut short on the grounds he was making LGBTQ students “unsafe.”

Morabito told The Epoch Times on March 9 that the board created an unsafe environment by making parents feel silenced and that’s why many parents present became angry.

“Frustration and anger create an unsafe environment, respectful open dialogue creates understanding and progress,” he said.

“Me being called transphobic, which couldn’t be further from the truth, is not going to make matters any better or move us any closer to a solution but instead just create more divisiveness, anger, and frustration.”

The mother who moved her son out of OCDSB to the Catholic board expressed similar thoughts.

“As parents, we can worry and ask these questions and that does not mean we can be called names,” she said. “Unfortunately, that happens systematically and that feels very divisive and not inclusive.”

Editor’s Note: This article was updated on June 13 to add comments from an OCDSB spokesperson. It also adds further clarity that the use of they/them pronouns was a suggestion by the school board in an email advising that ensuring an inclusive environment for 2sLGBTQ+ students is a professional and legal responsibility.