To better understand how to support the creation of safer schools for two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and additional identities (2SLGBTQ+) educators, this past spring, I enrolled in a course titled Gender, Sexuality and Schooling. This twelve-week course consolidated into six-weeks focused on matters of equity, inclusion, and school reform in relation to sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression among students, families, and educators in Ontario elementary and secondary schools.
During the course, I intentionally chose to focus on learning ways to support 2SLGBTQ+ educators rather than students or families for two reasons. First, as a member of the community I understand that 2SLGBTQ+ educators working within publicly funded school boards do not receive the same or similar levels of support as 2SLGBTQ+ students or families; I believe this in large part may be due to the position that 2SLGBTQ+ educators occupy. Meaning, because they are university educated adults, employed by a publicly funded school board, and part of a union, some may think 2SLGBTQ+ educators already have the knowledge, skills, and support needed to navigate homophobic, biphobic, and transphobic school spaces. Others may see no need to offer support if there are no known 2SLGBTQ+ educators on staff.
Second, from personal and professional experiences in addition to reading the findings from a 2020 Ontario Ministry of Education Review of my school board and a 2023 Employment Systems Review also of my board, I knew that 2SLGBTQ+ educators within my school board were likely to experience forms of homophobia, biphobia, and/or transphobia that negatively impacted their working conditions. As a result, in general, 2SLGBTQ+ educators have deemed schools in my board to be unsafe spaces for them to be out.
In this post, I’ll share an insight that I gained from my course that focuses on the significance of a legislation and policies. I’ll also explain why legislation and policies alone are insufficient supports when it comes to creating safer schools for 2SLGBTQ+ educators. My hope is that the ideas contained in this, post will aid others who strive to support the work of creating safer schools for 2SLGBTQ+ educator colleagues.
To begin, I’ll clarify the phrase safe schools. To support, I’ll draw on a definition of safe school planning from an article I read during my course titled, Safe, Positive, and Queering Moments in Teacher Education and Schooling: A Conceptual Framework by Tara Goldstein, Vanessa Russell, and Andrea Daley. In the article the authors share that, safe school planning is defined as systematic process to create and maintain a place where students can learn, and teachers can teach in a warm welcoming environment free from intimidation or fear. They further go on say that in the province of Ontario, the Safe Schools Act exemplifies this approach.
Thinking about the safe school planning definition above in collaboration with other institutional documents, I recognize that Ontario schools have the potential to be warm welcoming environments free from intimidation and fear for 2SLGBTQ+ educators due to the Safe Schools Act, ETFO policies, and the human right’s policies and procedures that are part of each school board’s operational guides. For example, under the School Rules: Provincial Code of Conduct section of the Education Act, it states that all students and community members must respect and treat others fairly regardless of their sex, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation.
Policy 88.1 focused on the 2SLGBTQ+ community in ETFO’s Policy Statement document advocates that school boards update their current policy and procedures to ensure the safety and prosperity of 2SLGBTQ+ educators, students, parents, and guardians. ETFO’s policy 88.2 also advocates that members who are 2SLGBTQ+ have the right to an inclusive and respectful working environment that adheres to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Ontario Human Rights Code.
Within my school board, policy 51, focused on human rights, outlines the board’s commitment to providing an inclusive learning and working environment that is free from prejudice and discrimination, upholds the Ontario Human Rights Code, takes intentional steps to actively encourage and foster a culture of respect, dignity, and acknowledges the inherent worth and value of all people and communities.
If the legislation and/or policies I mentioned above are new or unfamiliar, you may consider reviewing them beginning with your board’s human right’s policy because every educator has a responsibility to know and uphold human rights. Your board’s policy should be easily accessible by doing a quick search in your board’s internal employee website. Your principal and/or superintendent should also be familiar with this document, and either be able to provide you with a copy or provide guidance on where you can obtain one.
The significance of this legislation and these policies is that they ensure the human rights of 2SLGBTQ+ educators are protected because they recognize the historical hurt and harm that educators from these communities have experienced in the absence of legislation and policies being in place within and beyond schools. Legislations and policies further remind all educational stakeholders that forms of homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, and an intolerance for diverse forms of gender identity and expression are intolerable within Ontario’s publicly funded schools.
Yet, while I recognize the inherent value and need for legislation and policies to be in place to protect 2SLGBTQ+ educators, I also understand that legislation and policies alone are insufficient without them being put into practice. Meaning, for legislation and policies to be effective, educators from within and beyond the 2SLGBTQ+ community must work to ensure that laws and rules become institutionalized through practices so that educators from these communities can work within schools in the absence of intimidation and fear.
Our union is committed to the work of creating warm, welcoming, and inclusive school spaces for 2SLGBTQ+ members and allies; this is evident from the spring 2SLGBTQ+ Members and Allies Conference, where ETFO leaders created an opportunity for ETFO members from across the province to come together to discuss 2SLGBTQ+ issues with the goal of removing barriers, challenging stereotypes, and addressing discrimination. ETFO leaders also facilitated a non-binary discussion group to support amplifying the voices and specific support needed for non-binary members who experience disproportionate amounts of discrimination and prejudice for not conforming to binary gender constructs and/or expressions.
I think it’s vital that we remain mindful that supporting 2SLGBTQ+ colleagues is an ongoing process that will change as social and political contexts change and that 2SLGBTQ+ educators are the primary group who can determine whether school spaces are warm welcoming environments free from intimidation and fear; therefore, any conversation regarding the cultivation and maintenance of safe schools for 2SLGBTQ+ educators must involve them in some capacity.
