People in Saskatoon and Regina gathered for several rallies Saturday, calling on the provincial government to repeal Bill 137.
The provincial law bars children under the age of 16 from going by a different name or pronoun at school unless their parents’ consent.
The province invoked the Notwithstanding Clause to override Charter rights to protect the law from constitutional scrutiny.
Those attending the rallies at Saskatoon’s city hall and the provincial legislature in Regina say the law has created unsafe spaces for many youth since it was passed three years ago.
“I’ve heard a lot of things from various trans youth that they don’t feel like it’s safe to try and be themselves at school, and then they’re just kind of running out of places to be themselves,” said Thios Mwunvaneza, who organized the Saskatoon rally with The Red Bear Party and Queer Momentum.
“I think it’s really important that we continue speaking out on the harms of Bill 137 and the way it’s affecting our youth as well as re-traumatizing trans adults who are living in this province and dealt with things similar to what the bill enforces while they were growing up,” said Blake Tait, Saskatoon Pride co-chair.
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Bill 137 also allows parents to opt their child out of sexual health classes and prohibits third party sexual health organizations from teaching students.
“Kind of embarrassing for the province with the highest rates of syphilis and HIV to be letting kids have less access to sex ed,” said Mwunvaneza.
“The people who are now banned from schools are third-party sex educators, meaning the people who have really dedicated their lives and made it their entire job to be knowledgeable and up to date with sex ed.”
Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck announced Friday that if voted into office after the next provincial election, an NDP government would repeal the bill within 100 days of forming government.
Nathaniel Teed, the first openly gay MLA in Saskatchewan says repealing the law is necessary.
“As we’ve heard here today, just the stories from kids and family members, we know that we need to build a better relationship with our kids and with our teachers and our parents in our province,” he said.
At the time the bill was introduced into legislature, a release from the government said the bill outlines a number of rights that parents have when it comes to being involved in their child’s education.
A challenge to the bill from UR Pride and other intervenors is awaiting a hearing at the Supreme Court of Canada, with the applicants questioning the province’s use of the Nothwithstanding Clause to enforce the law.
Watch the video above for more on the Bill 137 rallies in Saskatchewan.