To the editor:
Re: “Puzzling out ballot box decisions,” Nov. 12.
We take issue with your suggestion that in demanding further consultation with parents (in connection the district’s revised gender policy) we became “a conduit for fear and ignorance.” That characterization is insulting and demeaning to the hundreds of Chinese Canadian parents we have spoken with about the policy — and the many thousands more who signed a petition demanding further consultation before implementation of the policy.
Our sense was and remains that these parents were genuinely concerned about the impact of the policy on their children’s privacy interests (e.g. gender neutral washrooms and change rooms) and on their right to be informed about their child’s gender identity, amongst other effects. Our calls for further consultation were to assist in resolving these parents’ concerns. The Vision-controlled board refused. This has nothing to do with homophobia and everything to do with the lack of transparency that typifies the Vision regime.
Ken Denike, Sophia Woo,
Vancouver
