Policy 713: “We’re really tired too”

In a long list of issues that concern the queer community, why is it Policy 713 that has taken up so much space in the media and on the political scene in New Brunswick?

The Alter Acadie organization hypothesizes that the provincial government is exploiting people LGBTQ+ for electoral reasons, to the detriment of the community.

We see this more as an issue that can be used to scare the population.

Since 2023, the entire political universe in New Brunswick seems to revolve around the controversial revision of 713, a set of directives supposed to protect young people LGBTQ+ who attend public schools in the province, observes Emily Mucklerthe president of Alter Acadie.

Divert voters’ attention

Emily Muckler believes that young people queer in the school system were instrumentalized by the Progressive Conservative government of Blaine Higgsin order to redirect attention away from the bigger issues facing the province.

We can use them to throw a little dust at people so that we don’t talk about much more problematic and much more urgent situations, such as housing situations and hospital situations.she maintains.

I don’t work in the school system, but, having people around me who deal with it as a student and then as a teacher, there are many more pressing and glaring problems than that.she continues.

According to her, several studies have revealed that the public gets tired of constantly hearing about the same issues in the media.

It’s not just cisgender or heterosexual people. We too — the community queer — we are really tired of seeing this, because it is precisely exploiting the community. It’s fearmongering [faire peur au monde, NDLR].

Still an issue worth fighting for

Emily Muckler says that it is still essential that the questions raised by the revision of policy 713 be resolved once and for all.

It is necessary for the health, safety and protection of young people LGBTQ+maintains the spokesperson for Alter Acadie.

The organization has also obtained intervener status in the lawsuit that the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (ACLC) filed. The plaintiffs intend to prove that the revision of policy 713 by the New Brunswick government is unconstitutional and violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Emily Muckler describes the New Brunswick government’s speech towards the community as intolerant queer.

We obtained the status [d’intervenant] against the government, to remind them that the charter of rights exists for a reason, and it must be followed. It’s not more complicated than thatshe decides.

Celebrations, not just litigation

Created to be the group of lobbying politician and spokesperson for the French communityqueer in New Brunswick, Alter Acadie is celebrating its first year of existence this month.

queer, we are like a subgroup of the community queer which is often neglected, perhaps due to lack of education or awareness”,”text”:”If there were already similar English-speaking groups in the province, there was a lack among French-speakers. Francophones, we are like a subgroup of the community which is often neglected, perhaps due to lack of education or awareness”}}”>If there were already similar English-speaking groups in the province, there was a lack among French-speakers. French speakers queerwe are like a subgroup of the community queer which is often neglected, perhaps due to lack of education or awarenessadvance Emily Muckler.

Since it launched its activities, the organization has denounced the rise in hate speech more than once.

However, Alter Acadie nevertheless makes a point of recalling that positive things have also happened in the last year.

Existence queer is not just sad, demanding and combative […] We are also here to celebrate our existence and our successes.

For example, she says, there are more and more allies at queer events and gatherings.

[…] There are more and more people who were neutral on the issue of queer rights who are slowly and surely joining the cause”,”text”:”It’s truly one of the most positive things we can observe in the last year[…] There are more and more people who were neutral on the issue of queer rights who are slowly and surely joining the cause”}}”>This is truly one of the most positive things we can see in the last year. […] There are more and more people who were neutral on the issue of human rights. queer who slowly and surely join the causeshe says. shower up for them.”,”text”:”It’s important if you have queer people in your life to shower up for them.”}}”>It’s important if you have people queer in your life shower up for them others.

The people queerremember Emily Muckler, are present in the towns and small villages of the province.

Thus, Alter Acadie will still have a lot of work to do in the future, believes Emily Muckler.

It won’t just be battles and disputesshe hastens to clarify, but also celebrations.

With information from the show Your Saturday