THE BATTLEFORDS — Battlefords Area Pride has issued a press release expressing solidarity with Queen City Pride and other provincial Pride organizations banning Sask Party and United Party MLAs from official participation in Pride season events or activities.
According to the release, if an MLA from those parties opts to publicly denounce Bill 137 along with promising to work towards its repeal, they will be welcome at Battlefords Area Pride events.
“Bill 137 condones oppression directed at queer, transgender and Two-Spirit youth in our province,” says Kelly Waters, secretary of Battlefords Area Pride.
“It attacks and disrespects personal autonomy, including gender expression, as recognized by Canada’s adoption of the United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child. Bill 137 dishonours the rights of children and is a step backwards on this front.”
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child was ratified in Canada in 1991. The articles of this document outline in detail the agreed upon rights of children everywhere. Article Two of the convention, addressing discrimination, states that parties who adopt the convention agree to “take all appropriate measures to ensure that the child is protected against all forms of discrimination or punishment on the basis of the status, activities, expressed opinions or beliefs of the child's parents, legal guardians or family members.”
Article 12, addressing respect for the “view of children” provides that Parties “shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child.”
In the view of Battlefords Area Pride, Bill 137 does not honour rights for 2SLGBTQQIA+ youth in terms of Article 2 (discrimination) and Article 12 (respect for the view of the child), a press release states.
“The Battlefords Area Pride community and allies, especially children, need to feel confident that any events they attend in the Battlefords will be safe and free of judgement,” says Bobbisue Thom, chair of Battlefords Area Pride.
“Allowing any political figures who support Bill 137 to connect themselves with Pride events in the Battlefords creates an unsafe unaffirming (sic) space. Since our MLA Jeremey Cockrill is the education minister, his presence would be highly inappropriate as Bill 137 targets rights of children and youth who are students in Saskatchewan.”
Battlefords Area Pride is hosting a few events in June for National Pride Month and hosting a separate local Pride Week July 22 - 28. The separate local Pride Week tradition is to allow local Pride supporters to not be placed in the position of having to choose between local events and the larger-scale events in nearby Saskatoon.
