Saskatchewan residents gathered outside of the Legislative Building on Saturday to voice their hope to repeal Bill 137, which was enacted three years ago. The bill requires students under the age of 16 to have parental consent before changing their preferred name or gendered pronouns at school. “What we’ve heard from students and teachers who are facing the bill, is the impact on students is immense,” said Keegan Grandel, a member of the Saskatchewan Coalition to repeal Bill 137. “We’re seeing a rise in bullying; we’re seeing a rise in mental health problems for trans and two-spirit youth. We are seeing a lack of trust between student and teacher, and teachers are feeling that they don’t know what they can do or say with regard to this bill.” The coalition formed shortly after the Bill was introduced in October 2023, raising awareness of the bill in collaboration with the Regina School Board as well as the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation. Grandel says that teachers in Saskatchewan feel that it’s harder to connect with their trans and gender-diverse students. “It’s not impossible, but it does make it a bit more difficult. With GSAs [gender and sexuality alliance], sometimes teachers are afraid to form those because it looks like maybe they might be defying the bill in that way, and they’re not.” The coalition delivered 606 letters to the Regina Public School Board in September to ask the RPS board to take the policies out of their administrative procedures.
