Regina public school board defeats motion mandating support for Pride month

The Regina public school board has voted down a motion to “recognize and support” Pride celebrations and fly the rainbow flag at all of its schools each year in June.

School board trustees voted 4-3 against the motion, originally brought forward by trustee Aleana Young.

In the school board’s agenda for the Tuesday-night meeting, Young’s motion seeks resolution on the matter “that Regina Public Schools recognize and support the celebration of Pride and fly the rainbow flag at our facilities each June.”

Some of the trustees who voted against the motion reportedly believed it would have forced all schools to mark the occasion; currently, schools can decide how they celebrate Pride.

“Schools are places of belonging and inclusion, and I have yet to hear from a single student or teacher who has identified Pride/GSAs (gay-straight alliances) as something that makes them feel less safe,” Young said in her written submission to the school board.

“As trustees, we are responsible for making decisions in the best interests of our students, staff and the communities we serve,” she said.

Young referenced a June 2019 presentation to the school board, during which “a group of concerned parents” presented to the board their concerns about Pride celebrations and raising a rainbow flag at one particular elementary school.

The parents believed “that this was an instance of the majority excluding the minority and that elementary schools should not be celebrating or recognizing Pride as it would exclude those families whose personal or religious views were in opposition to gender and sexual diversity,” Young said in her submission.

That led to further discussions at the school board, which considered changing administrative procedures. Young decided to make the topic public, because any potential change would “result in a deviation from the current practice of allowing schools to self-identify what events best meet the needs of their students and communities.”

She said she preferred that to a discussion “behind closed doors.”