There’s a big protest being organized across Canada to protest SOGI being taught in schools, and I’m fed up with it. There are so many vulnerable students who need to know that what they’re experiencing is normal, and right-wing extremists are politicizing human rights and spreading manufactured controversy about children being shown pornography in schools.
The linked article is just one of many anti-SOGI protests happening across Canada on Wednesday.
Anyway, the reason I bring it up here is that some of these right-wing anti-SOGI [redacted; unkind] are parents of kids in our kids’ classes, and a couple of them are close friends with my kids.
How do you handle that? Kids shouldn’t be held accountable for their parents’ beliefs. But what about playdates and birthday parties and such? Should we discuss the friendship? It feels wrong to ostracize the child. They deserve to feel safe and have friends.
Also, I’m thinking of taking time off work to counter protest, and making a sign like this one:
Not really related to parenting, but I think it’s important kids feel supported and bigots are told their archaic world views are unwelcome. It’ll be super awkward if a parent I know is standing on the other side of the protest.
Ask your children. Ask them what they think about handling birthday parties, playdates, etc. Your children share your values and so will have a more clear idea about how to navigate their friendships. In this, you’ll be polishing their rough plan, but they are the best ones to come up with a rough plan.