A Rough Road For Our Neighbors To The North.

The animosity toward us is spreading north! The conservatives are talking to the right-wingers and exporting the anti-LGBTQ+ rancor.

N.B. premier faces backlash after trans policy change — why experts say it's ‘embarrassing’

Celeste Trianon, a trans activist, spoke to Yahoo Canada about trans rights amidst the recent news.

Yahoo News

By Julia Ranney·Lifestyle Editor

June 11, 2023

On Thursday, New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs announced new changes to a protective policy for queer students.

After weeks of controversy and discussion, Higgs said that teachers in the province will not be required to use the preferred names or pronouns of transgender or non-binary students under the age of 16 without parental consent.

The change occurred after a review of Policy 713, during which the province's child and youth advocate expressed that N.B. has an obligation to protect the rights of queer students.

For context, Policy 713 was initially adopted in 2020 to provide a safe, protected, inclusive and gender-affirming space for students, allowing them to be exactly who they are in an educational setting.

We can’t have safe and inclusive schools… that’s “Woke.”

The news received backlash and uncertainty among Higgs' Progressive Conservatives, as well as from the LGBTQ2S+ community.

"We’re going back in time, and it’s embarrassing. Canada is known for being an international leader in freedom and trans rights and that’s now being taken away," said Celeste Trianon, a trans activist, in an interview with Yahoo Canada.

This is happening not only here in the U.S. and Canada… the right-wing governments are moving to the far right, in Europe and Africa.

After announcing the review, Premier Higgs defended his position to reporters, saying the department will examine whether parents should be informed if children under the age of 16 decide to adopt a different name and/or pronoun at school.

"For it purposefully to be hidden from the parents, that's a problem," Higgs claimed.

While Higgs said he wants kids "to feel comfortable and safe" at school, he ultimately believes schools should be obligated to tell parents everything — including names, pronouns and genders of their children.

Does that sound familiar? It is right out of the Republican’s handbook of “parental rights.” at the detriment of the children.

When asked her reaction to the review, Trianon expressed her disappointment and worry for the future.

"It was not surprising for me, because I knew that something akin to this would happen, considering the toxicity that is brewing in the United States, here and also abroad," she said. "But it's still disappointing nonetheless, and it's endangering for trans people."

Initially, the policy was instituted in the best interest of the children themselves. In Trianon's  opinion, three complaints is not enough to prompt a review of the policy, especially because it was only adopted two and a half years ago.

Have you noticed that it only takes a handful of conservatives to out weigh dozens and dozens of tolerant parents. We see it all the time here… “We had a person complain so we pulled the book off the shelves.” ignoring all the rest of the people who object to the removal.

Last month, Trianon made an Instagram post drawing attention to the People's Party of Canada and their anti-trans platform for the federal by-elections.

According to Trianon, the platform includes "criminalizing gender-affirming care for trans youth and banning trans people's access to bathrooms, and more."

By posting the platform, Trianon aims to remind people that even though Canada is a relatively safe country, there is still injustice for trans people.

"If you think that we're safe in Canada, this is the final straw. We're not," the post read. "We're one election away from becoming Florida."

The oppression of us is spreading fast that COVID.

"We grew up thinking our titles as Canadians will protect us, that we are in a safe country. But human rights are fragile here too," Trianon said. "This is a form of an emergency that's happening in other places like the United States, and it can happen here too."