WRDSB delegates stress importance for LGBTQ2+ literature in schools

Community members had their voices heard at a Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) meeting Monday night.

The agenda included delegates who spoke about last week's incident that saw a teacher removed from the school board meeting after making comments the board deemed transphobic.

Delegation subjects at last night’s meeting included: Supportive Environments and Resources for Transgender, Non-Binary and Two-Spirit Youth, LGBTQ2+ Literature, Inclusion of Transgender and Non-Binary Reading Materials, Importance of Queer Representation in Children's Literature and the Importance of Transgender Reading Materials.

“Last week’s meeting, the way it was handled, and on the on-line transphobic backlash, paint an important picture of how queer identities are in the firing line of an organized system of hate and how the school board plays a critical role in the dismantling of that hate,” said delegate David Alton.  

“For the board members who supported that action last week, I thank you. For the board members who have learned from that experience, I hope we can build upward processes to prevent further situations like that from being platformed in the first place.”

At last week's school board meeting, a teacher, Carolyn Burjoski, was removed while presenting her concerns about specific books in school libraries being inappropriate for children. 

During her presentation, Burjoski was halted by board chair Scott Piatkowski who said that he was concerned that her delegation may be problematic.

Burjoski said on her Twitter page that she has been ‘silenced’ and ‘punished’ after her presentation to the board where she read excerpts from children's books and commented on their age appropriateness.

“The language of age appropriate, when it comes to identity, this is inappropriate. As a queer, non-binary person, what about my identity is inappropriate for children?” Alton said.

“The school board plays an important role in facilitating the norms in our community around gender, sexuality, and identity for children and youth. You, as trustees, also play an important role. Voting to end the delegation was the bare minimum. The process to get there, was very harmful and needs to be changed so that matters of human rights are not up for debate.”

In the past week, board chair Piatkowski said he and others at the table have had a taste of the abuse and hatred that trans folks experience everyday.

“While it has frankly been an awful experience, it pales in comparison to the harm that would have been caused to trans students, staff and members of the community, if I had not acted as I did, and when I did,” Piatkowski said.  

He said he can understand that there are those who may not understand the realities and barriers faced by trans identifying students and those without trans people in their lives.

“They might not recognize the subtle code words that are used to marginalize them and delegitimize their existence,” Piatkowski said.

“While some trustees and some well-meaning members of the community may genuinely not have seen the harm the delegate caused by what she did say, I can assure you that it was real and it was clear where she was headed if she were allowed to continue. The harm may have become more apparent to all. But if that had been the case, perhaps my decision to have stopped the presentation, might have looked better to some who had questioned it, but I would have felt that the board would have been responsible for that added harm.”

Alton said that there needs to be more tools for accountability and healing.

“It is time for you as a board, to develop a targeted approach to these campaigns of hate They are organized and will keep coming. You should anticipate them and work with the broader community to fight back. I would like to see an actual strategy or plan coming from the school board about how to address targeted hate,” Alton said.

“For the trustees that extended that process and voted against that process, you’ve caused harm.”

Four trustees, including Laurie Tremble, voted against the decision to have Burjoski removed from last week’s meeting.

“As someone who voted against the chair’s decision at the last meeting, a vote that I regret now, I am excited to be doing some of this learning and I apologize for any harm that I have caused,” Tremble said.

Delegate Mitchell Avis, says he hopes the four trustees who defended the delegate, learn from their decisions.

“This begins with our students as children in our community. The onus is on the WRDSB, its trustees, administration, teachers, and staff to enable an inclusive loving environment in these spaces,” Avis said.

“I dream of an inclusive and loving region where all people can live their full potential and be their authentic self. All children, no matter how they identify, deserve the same opportunities that I had, to open a book, and read about characters, just like them.”

A video, shown at the meeting, was developed by the local 'Group-up' team and their friends who called for literature in support of having trans characters being represented in libraries.

“The concern last week was for the safety, well-being and stress that would be faced by a student that came across this literature. But in that case, if this world is a safer place for LGBTQ2+, non-binary and two-spirit folks, then it’s not going to be as dangerous or scary for a child who just comes across this literature,” said delegate Chris Clarke.

“To make this world a safer space, this literature needs to be available and stay available for people who are straight to understand what happens when they have a friend that is going through this.”

Last year, the Waterloo Region District School Board announced it would begin a multi-year project to review texts that may be ‘harmful’ to staff and students.

“Please read our stories. Fill your shelves with them,” Alton said.

“There are so many beautiful queer voices in our community that belong in our schools.”