Students stage walkouts to oppose Alberta’s gender identity policies for children and youth

Hundreds of Alberta students staged classroom walkouts Wednesday to protest the provincial government’s planned policies around transgender youth.

At 10 a.m., students left their classrooms and staged demonstrations calling for the province to reverse course on sweeping gender identity policies announced last week by Premier Danielle Smith.

About 200 students walked out of classes at Victoria School in central Edmonton and stood in protest outside the entry doors. Outside the south-side Strathcona High School, another 60 students gathered, the crowd dotted with signs and Pride flags.

Achilles Chinery, 17, who helped organize the walkout at Victoria School, said it was heartwarming to see the protest and to know that students at other Alberta schools were staging their own protests.

He said he is skeptical that government will listen to the concerns of protesters but hopes the walkouts show transgender youth they have strong allies.

“I honestly don’t how much of a difference it will make to Danielle Smith but I do know it will make a difference to the people who are scared and worried right now,” he said.

The walkouts are the latest in a string of demonstrations decrying the proposed policies. Smith’s announcement has spurred several protests — both at the grassroots level and from groups like the Alberta Medical Association.

Smith says her United Conservative Party government will introduce legislation this fall to bring in new rules, including restrictions on youth changing their names or pronouns at school and getting hormone therapy or gender-affirming surgery.

She says the policies are to ensure children are “fully informed” about the decisions they are making because they might regret them later in life.

Rae Canavan-Lebeuf, who helped organize the Strathcona School demonstration, said she fears what the policies will mean for the future of all 2SLGBTQ+ Albertans.

“Not only is this bill going to affect trans kids, it’s going to affect everyone,” she said. 

“If it’s passed, it opens a gateway to more bills and more rights being restricted.

“It’s frustrating to have to fight for rights that we already have.”

Sixteen-year-old Aspen Cervo, a student at Leduc Composite High School in Leduc, 35…