VANCOUVER — A group of Vancouver parents is taking the Vancouver School Board to court in a bid to quash a controversial policy that provides more support for transgender students.
Xiaofeng Huang, Yuen Ching Li and Shaohui Liu have filed a petition in B.C. Supreme Court claiming the school board policy, adopted June 16, violates the School Act and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The petition says the policy, which allows transgender students to use washrooms and locker rooms that correspond to their gender identities, violates students’ rights to privacy and encroaches on parental rights over their children.
“Some students are uncomfortable with sharing very personal information or private spaces with members of the opposite sex and deeply care about their privacy when using the washroom or change room,” the petition says.
“The board never proposed how to accommodate the wishes of students who are uncomfortable with sharing the same washroom and change room with members of the opposite sex.”
The policy also allows transgender students to be addressed by the name that corresponds with their gender identity.
In sex-segregated activities such as physical education, it gives them the choice to join the gender group they identify with.
It also calls for gender-neutral single-stall washrooms in schools.
The petition includes affidavits from more than 180 parents.
