Duelling protests over LGBTQ rights

I’ll take a punch for queer and trans youth any day.

JOEL HARDEN OTTAWA CENTRE MPP AFTER BEING STRUCK

Hundreds of people rallied against what an organizer calls “gender ideology” near three west-end Ottawa schools Friday, as hundreds more joined a counter-protest in support of transgender rights.

Police arrested five people in connection with the protests but wouldn’t share more information about why.

The protest against gender identity being taught in schools was organized by activist Chris Elston, while community groups Horizon Ottawa and Community Solidarity Ottawa mobilized the counter-protest.

Ottawa Centre MPP Joel Harden said on Twitter that he was punched while counter-protesting.

“I’ll take a punch for queer and trans youth any day,” he said.

Notre Dame High School is located on a section of street closed by police, and Broadview Avenue Public School and Nepean High School are located another block away.

The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board urged the protesters to move their demonstrations away from the schools.

“Adults should never make children and youth feel threatened or intimidated. Protests that are intended to provoke students, staff, families and/or community members to generate attention or social media traffic are completely unacceptable,” the board said in a public statement before the planned protest.

Alex Silas, PSAC’s regional executive vice-president for the National Capital Region, said he’s concerned about Elston planning a demonstration near schools.

“It really raises doubts about a group that, I think it goes without saying, but it’s a group that is literally targeting children,” Silas said.

Elston, also known as Billboard Chris, is from British Columbia and has been taking his views against the teaching of gender identity in schools on a tour across North America.

Emily Quail, an organizer of the counter-protest and mother of a child at Broadview Avenue Public School, said the support from the community in the counter-protest “fills my heart,” and that sticking up for transgender rights is more important than ever amid a rise in anti-LGBTQ hate.

“There is no acceptable place for this,” Quail said.

“We will not let them spread their transphobic, fascist ideology anywhere, here or anywhere else, and that starts with community strength.”

Tris Harrison, who has two kids who attend Broadview Avenue Public School, said he respected the protesters’ democratic rights, but the demonstrations are disruptive.

“I don’t want my (kids’) school used as a prop,” he said. “Is this fair to a seven-year-old?”