Ontario Education Minister advocates for more child deaths

[sabotabby]

Not content to mass-disable and kill children by making schools covid-friendly zones, Education Minister and noted goatfucker Stephen Lecce has announced that also trans children should kill themselves, basically.

Joining New Brunswick and Saskatchewan at the vanguard of Florida-style trans genocide, Lecce announced today that "parents should be fully involved" in a child's decision to change their name and pronouns. Never mind that this will raise the number of trans and nonbinary kids killing themselves or being tossed out on the street by their families. Never mind that public schools have policies—including respecting a child's decision to disclose their gender and/or sexual identity when and how they choose—to ensure that children are safe, supported, and respected. Never mind the fucking Ontario Human Rights Code, which protects all humans, including children, from discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression. As a religious nutter and right-wing extremist, he doesn't care about the lives of kids once they're born and his mandate, kept secret from the public, is to defund and demolish public schools.

Why is my union negotiating with this child-killer and terrorist? We should refuse to enter the same room until he agrees to keep trans and nonbinary kids safe and alive.

Comments

[ioplokon]

I think the way the US teachers are handling it is correct. Send home a permission slip for every nickname. Or call all children by their surnames.

But yeah, it's not great! It's kinda funny though how people think being trans is so amazing that as soon as someone tries it, they'll be hooked for life.

[sabotabby]

I'm going to do so much malicious compliance if they force me to out kids. Well, no. I just won't. They can discipline me and I'll challenge it in court. We actually have laws that protect trans kids in this country and I know some rad lawyers.

Y'know, I think being trans should be amazing and cool and fun. It sucks that it's so often not.

[ioplokon]

hm... I think probably insights from disability studies are useful for thinking about trans people and transition? Like there are social aspects that make things shitty when they don't need to be. But having a medical condition can be inherently shitty sometimes. Basically, it's not all social (though far too much of it is). Like, not all trans people have dysphoria but for those who do, it's kind of definitionally a bad time...

[sabotabby]

Yeah, this is my big difference with the social model of disability. Even if the world were able to perfectly accommodate my needs, I'd still be in fucking pain all the time and I'd rather not be disabled.

[ex_flameandsong751]

-sad tired trans noises- I'm sorry our brand of batshit is spreading north.

[sabotabby]

I'm sorry y'all have had to deal with it for so long.

[ex_flameandsong751]

Yeah, the fact that I am more afraid now than I was when I came out 10 years ago this November - like things have actually gotten worse by orders of magnitude - is just boatloads of existential despair. For the last few years well-meaning-but-clueless friends have told me to immigrate to Canada [clearly not knowing how immigration to Canada even works, and some of these folx are themselves Canadian] but like... y'all [not you personally] are starting to give me the "oh shits" too, so even if I could get cleared to immigrate I know it would be a matter of time before people would be telling me "it's time to leave Canada for your own safety!"

Everywhere is fucked, I think, it's just a question of how hard.

[sabotabby]

It's true. I will say that the fact that what he is proposing would absolutely get defeated in a court challenge is a clear advantage. But that is obviously not 100% protection and would take years, which is useless to the kids he is victimizing now.

[numb3r_5ev3n]

Yeah :(

[minoanmiss]

There are times I wish I’d become an assaasin

[sabotabby]

I tell, you, I ever get a terminal illness and there'll be some people who'd better look out.

[smhwpf]

Fucking hell. The Tories in the UK are trying to do the same, make schools out kids to their parents if they're questioning their gender identity or want a change of pronouns. Not gone through yet, but they're pushing for it.

And Sir Kid Starver is rapidly trashing Labour's former commitment to trans rights. Self ID out the window, because anything the Scots want to do can't be good.

[sabotabby]

Goddamn. You guys should paint your faces blue and shout FREEDOM until England butts out of your business and out of trans kids' pants (I think that's how it works according to the movies I saw).

[smhwpf]

Unfortunately, when the Supreme Court said "No, you can't have a referendum without Westminster's permission", the ultimate response from the SNP seems to have settled on "Well, that's a shame. Oh, well. Vote for us anyway at the next election, and we'll say we have a mandate again and see if that works!"

The thing is, Starmer had no problem with self-ID, until the Scottish Parliament passed it (with support from almost all Scottish Labour MSPs), Westminster vetoed it, and Starmer decided he could a) use the issue to bash the SNP, and b) avoid a fight with the Daily Mail.

[sabotabby]

God Starmer is such a garbage man. Why would anyone vote for Tories Lite?

[smhwpf]

Because they're so fed up with Tories Original, so they'll vote for whoever is the major alternative, however unenthusiastically. Starmer has effectively turned Labour (back) into Capita's B Team for when the A Team fucks up too badly. People might not want that, but it's what's on offer. First Past The Post, no primaries, and internal party democracy fairly effectively trashed means whatever the leader wants to serve up is what's on the menu.

The Lib Dems seem to be totally silent. Their strategy seems to be to let a bunch of Tory seats fall into their laps by default due to the massive fall in the Tory vote, combined with tactical voting. Won't give them a whiff of power if there's a Labour landslide, but they'll have more MPs, so yay.

The Greens are a very positive alternative, but in FPTP they have no way of breaking through.

In Scotland, the SNP are still a real alternative, and are at least still somewhat social democratic, way more so than Labour at least, and they will probably get the most seats in Scotland, but there aren't all that many seats in Scotland.

[sabotabby]

Just godawful. Hellscape Island.

[ioplokon]

I have been working on this concept called "vice signalling" which is how politicians use cruel and demeaning policies in order to signal that, on the right, they speak the same language as their bigoted base and, on the left, that they are Serious People who will Compromise and Make Tough Decisions. As you can imagine, I'm very influenced by the UK situation (though Biden does this a lot w/ the border & immigration, too). It's especially wild on the transphobia side, since pretty much all polling and election results show that it's a losing issue for losers even in pretty transphobic voter bases (basically like... are a lot of voters confused and uncomfortable about trans people? Yes. Do they base their voting decisions on eligibility policies in women's sports? No. Like, people do not care about stuff like "ensuring lesbian book clubs are exclusively for legal lesbians" and so on.

[sabotabby]

Agreed. Your average cis person is just...not that interested in other people's junk. You can probably explain trans issues to them and make them less transphobic, or you can lie a bunch and make them more transphobic, but just by default in my experience they think it weird and uncomfortable and would rather not think about it.

[smhwpf]

Yeah, that totally makes sense on the vice signaling.

It is absurd with the transphobia. A desperate gambit by the Tories, and utter cowardice by Labour. I can sort of see the electoral logic, but by God it is and utterly shitty and dismal way to do politics.

[rydra_wong]

Because Tories Original are SO much worse. Starmer has the spine of a boiled potato; the Tories are actively, viciously evil, desperate, and will do anything to claw a few votes from the hard right.

I am pretty disappointed and depressed by Starmer (and I am someone who did have more time for him, on the basis that he was a cynical but effective political operator who would at least get the Tories out, but my faith has lessened that he's even that effective as opposed to perpetually on the back foot and flailing to avoid anything the Daily Mail might get TOO upset about), but his government will kill far far fewer people.

Probably.

So I will suck it up and vote, as always.

Someone referenced Raymond Williams' line about the Labour Party from the '70s, and I'm finding it useful to hang onto: "Elect them on Thursday; fight them on Friday.”

[sabotabby]

Oh, I absolutely hear you. We are devolving to that situation here as well.

Someone referenced Raymond Williams' line about the Labour Party from the '70s, and I'm finding it useful to hang onto: "Elect them on Thursday; fight them on Friday.”


This is my entire attitude towards electoral politics (though like, Olivia Chow continues to do Good Things. So far.).

[flamingsword]

Well said! Madame Guillotine looks thirsty.

[sabotabby]

That she does.

[lynnenne]

OH MY FUCKING GOD I WANT TO THRASH THEM ALL.

I am screaming. Screaming into the void. The state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation and that includes KIDS’ BEDROOMS. ESPECIALLY kids’ bedrooms!

[sabotabby]

It's disgusting. Unless you're a medical professional, only perverts are interested in the contents of kids' pants.

[batdina]

If I were still teaching high school, I hope I'd risk my job and ignore them all. Barring that, I'd send home permission slips for kids asking to be called Jim if their name is James.

Scarily, even here in librul NoCal this crap is starting to happen. We have a governor who so far is protecting us from this BS, but he's already been subject to recall once, and elections are uncertain no matter where we are.

[sabotabby]

Oh yeah. And I would personally change my name every week.