Genner idenniny in schools
N.B. reviews gender-identity policy in schools as supporters accuse minister of caving to anti-LGBTQ pressure
But of course it could be just pressure not to promote trans ideology, as opposed to pressure to hate anti-lesbian gay bi trans queer people. In other words “anti-LGBTQ” is probably a misnomer.
The Higgs government in New Brunswick says it is rethinking its policy on sexual orientation and gender identity in schools because of a backlash against the guidelines.
The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development confirmed it’s reviewing the policy, designed to support gay, lesbian and trans youth, “after hearing concerns and misunderstandings of its implementation.”
The review was already underway before Education Minister Bill Hogan distanced himself and his department from a recent sexual orientation and gender identity learning session for teachers.
See…this is the problem. What is a “gender identity learning session”? What is “gender identity”? It’s scary that teachers are being taught about “gender identity,” because there’s so much tendentious misinformation on the subject floating around. How can anyone have any confidence that teachers are not being taught bullshit?
Sexual orientation isn’t like that. It’s not spooky. It’s not magic that some people are attracted to their own sex instead of the other one. It was taboo for a long time, but it’s never depended on weird supernatural claims.
But that gets tidily obscured by lumping them all together as LGBTQ. I have to wonder what Canadian teachers are being taught about what Q is, too.
In a new statement, spokesperson Morgan Bell said the Education Department does not “condone the tactics that were directed at our teachers and we will always ensure human rights are protected.”
She said the implementation of Policy 713 “revealed instances where the policy is perhaps too broad and/or unclear” and that was the reason for the review.
The policy, in effect since 2020, lays out minimum requirements for school districts to create a safe, welcoming learning environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex and two-spirited students.
Why aren’t they also learning how to create a safe, welcoming learning environment for witches, fairies, gremlins, extra-terrestrials, dragons, ghosts, sprites, elves, angels, devils, goblins, flying horses, und so weiter?
My workplace recently required everyone to take similar training. I’m only two years from retiring, so I just did it and answered the test questions the way I know they wanted. It’s not worth the hassle when absolutely nobody cares; they just imposed it for legal reasons, so it was 30 minutes of being paid to listen to bullshit. Talking among ourselves, we employees discovered that we all feel that way, and nobody thinks that this gender identity crap is anything but meaningless nonsense. Nobody’s mind was changed, and nobody started posting their pronouns in their email signatures, although that was one of the things the “training” said that we should start doing.
James: so glad I retired before the bs reached my employer(a local government in California). The State already does this. I’m sure the generally conservative highway engineers are all in! My replacement is a true believer I know.
I haven’t met my replacement, but I know that pretty much everyone in the science department is at best dubious; most of us just flat out believe in biology. Weird, I know. We do have one younger teacher, teaching Psych 101, which for some reason was lumped into the hard sciences while all other psych was left in the social sciences. She believes in gender identity. No one has started a fight with her. Most of us just ignore her, call our students whatever name they want to be called, and think for ourselves.
But things are about to change. That’s one reason I retired (Thursday! yay!)
“In other words “anti-LGBTQ” is probably a misnomer.”
It’s always about the T, the rest are just thrown in for padding out the apparent numbers.
Congratulations, iknklast. More time for writing?
@ Holms #4
Maybe partly to pad out numbers, but mostly to parasitically ride on the coattails of legitimate civil rights work. By using the forced association (T tacked onto LGB), the parasite has been able to cannibalize the entire insides of the host organism and now masquerades as a fake host. It’s excellent camouflage.
@ iknklast #3
Congratulations! My friends gave me a little plaque that says:
Congratulations to iknklast from me too. I retired early from academia myself, almost a year and a half ago. Best decision of my life. (Though for different reasons; mostly burnout and overwork. Plus actually very little financial reward for continuing work.) May you live long and enjoy your new freedom.
Congratulations, iknklast! Does that mean you’ll be escaping Kansas?
Nebraska!
Ah, I can never keep those two apart.
Really they should just be one state. Nebrasas, perhaps, or Kanska. Same with the Dakotas–I never understood why we need two of them. (In fact, I’d throw in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana–just make them one bis superstate.)
But the Republicans want their senators, alas.
Congratulations on your retirement, iknklast!
FREEEEEEDOOOOOOOM!!!!
Seriously, it’s the best; I had no idea the mental stress I had been under, until I didn’t have to play other people’s silly social games. I expect that you will feel that even more.
I concur with maddog’s friends: DO ALL THE THINGS. While you are still able.
Thanks, everyone. Definitely more time for writing – at least after we do the packing up and moving. And we don’t know where we’re going yet. We do know it won’t be south, but we’re looking at several areas. Wisconsin and Maine are my go to, but my husband is quite fond of Iowa (he grew up there) and Illinois.
I’ll let you know when we decide.
As for mixing up Nebraska and Kansas, you’re not alone. Most people know very little about Nebraska other than its name. It is not a charismatic state. I was at a conference once and my name tag said NE; one woman thought I was from New England. When I told her Nebraska, I said something about how little people know about Nebraska. She claimed to know a lot and started naming things from Nebraska. The first thing she named was Toto; I said, no, that’s Kansas. She named things from Iowa, from Kansas, from Colorado…but never got one thing right about Nebraska.
If you’re interested in hearing some of the more interesting things about Nebraska: Home of William Jennings Bryan and Malcolm X, as well as Henry Fonda and Gerald Ford. Kool-Aid was invented here (I apologize! Though I wasn’t here then). We have the only fossil of mammoths that died locked in battle (I think the only one in the world). We are the only state that never had a law to protect parents who killed their child through praying when they needed a doctor (thanks, Ernie Chambers! You are nissed in the legislature.) And the Reuben sandwich is said to have been invented in Omaha (we have a hamburgery version also known as the Runza). And we have Carhenge, in Alliance, which is rumored to be the home of the antichrist, which I was able to verify on Wickedpedia.
To clarify – Alliance is rumored to be the home of the antichrist, not Carhenge.
I’ve actually spent a bit of time in Nebraska, at a campground in Grand Island for my ninth birthday, and then, several years later, in South Sioux City for a week and a half teaching an intensive intro to linguistics course for ESL teachers. The highlight of the latter was a side trip to Ashfall State Park to look at the fossils there.
The only time I’ve been to Kansas I was passing through on a train.
As for your potential landing places, I prefer your choices over your husband’s (though I’ve become far too much of a winter wimp to live in any of them).
WaM, I love ashfall. It’s the only place I seen saber toothed deer, and I love that you can actually see the dig site. There are times there have been workers actually working while I was there.
I’m surprised to find out how many Nebraskans have never heard of it…of course, that’s among my students, and the younger generation does seem to have a lot less experience with parents taking them on educational field trips. They’ve all been to the Omaha zoo, though, and assume it is the finest in the world. (It’s a good zoo…but I’ve been to better.)
Good for you iknklast! I’ll raise a glass to you tonight (Friday my time) wishing you a long and very satisfying retirement.
Now I disappointed that Carhenge isn’t the home of the Antichrist. But that would be too perfect, I suppose.