Alberta to introduce parental rights’ bill

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith will unveil her government’s parental rights bill today, which will see parents’ permission needed for a child to change their name or pronoun from what they were given at birth.

While the new law will allow 16- and 17-year-old students to make changes to names and pronouns, schools will first need to inform parents. The law will also prohibit hormonal treatment, puberty blockers and gender-affirming surgery for children 15 and under, ban children under 17 from having certain gender-affirming surgeries, and teachers will need education ministry approval for third-party instruction material on gender identity, sexual orientation and human sexuality.

Parents will also have to opt students into lessons about sex education, sexual orientation or gender identity.

The new policy will also keep transgendered women from competing in women’s sport leagues while the government will co-operate with leagues to set up co-ed or gender-neutral divisions.

Smith announced the upcoming bill’s release in a social media post Wednesday. More detail is coming at a news conference later this afternoon.

More to come…