Read before signing
Drop whatever you’re doing and listen up: there’s a Statement:
ETFO strongly condemns anti-2SLGBTQ+ protests
Today, the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) issued the following statement responding to 1 Million March 4 Children protests that are scheduled to take place across Canada this week:
“Any actions or events that seek to undermine the rights and dignity of the 2SLGBTQ+ community must be denounced. As such, ETFO strongly condemns this week’s planned protests, and calls on the government and school boards to do the same.”
What about actions and events that do in fact undermine the rights and dignity of women, of lesbians and gay men, of children and adolescents and adults, of people who can recognize bullshit when they see it?
There is no room for hate in our province or our hearts. Yet we are seeing a disturbing increase in public discourse centred on anti-2SLGTBQ+ hate.
Are they though? I think the discourse is about resistance to trans ideology, not “hate.”
Recently, Premier Doug Ford accused school boards of indoctrination. Education Minister Stephen Lecce scolded boards for upholding students’ human rights related to gender identity, and
Wait wait wait, slow down. What do you mean by “students’ human rights related to gender identity”? What exactly are those? How do you know they are rights? Have you thought at all about how such rights might conflict with the rights of women, children, lesbians, gay men? Are you quite sure you haven’t just leapt onto a bandwagon without checking the wheels?
We encourage all Canadians to engage in constructive conversations, to listen to differing perspectives, to reject bigotry, and to work together to build a more inclusive and equitable society for all.
No you don’t. You’re demonstrating with this very petition that you don’t. You’re telling us NOT TO LISTEN to differing perspectives.
Through education and respectful dialogue, we can bridge gaps and create environments where everyone feels safe, valued, and respected.
Not when men are determined to steal everything women have gained over the past half century we can’t.
In this time of emboldened hate, let us stand together against transphobia and homophobia, and protect those who are targets of bigotry and discrimination. We commend school boards for their unwavering commitment to ensuring all students feel safe and included.
ETFO will continue to advocate for members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, and work to protect the rights of vulnerable individuals who continue to be discriminated against, marginalized, and harmed.
Except women and girls. No biggy.
Oy. When will the alphabet soup stop expanding? What’s the thing with “2S”? Sorry, I just can’t keep up. Maybe I am getting too old for this.
If I may hijack the thread for a tangential question, I know there are entire books – maybe entire bookshelves – written about the rise of identity politics. Are any of them worth reading? Do they enlighten, or just lead to further confusion?
Two-spirit. It’s specific to Canada.
Ah. I don’t dare ask what that means.
But their definition of bigotry is ‘anything that doesn’t fully comply with our ideology’, so different perspectives will automatically be off the agenda.
“Two-Spirit” was, as best I can tell, also popular in the US until it got pushback as “cultural appropriation” from Native Americans.
Books I’ve found helpful regarding the rise of identity politics include Cynical Theories (Pluckrose/Lindsay), The New Puritans (Doyle), and The Madness of Crowds (Murray). I have significant political disagreements with all of these writers, but I think they present their arguments well and make insightful observations. Some or all of these books I picked up via recommendations from the commentariat here.
Harald Hanche-Olsen @3
I think the term was made up by a white person; anyway, it refers to social roles found in some indigenous North American nations. They were mainly cultural niches for effeminate men.
There’s some interesting background from a gender critical perspective here:
https://culturallyboundgender.wordpress.com/2013/03/09/toward-an-end-to-appropriation-of-indigenous-two-spirit-people-in-trans-politics-the-relationship-between-third-gender-roles-and-patriarchy/
@Harald Hanche-Olsen #1
I’ve read several books on the topic of identity politics, but the one which sticks with me the most is probably The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt. Based on an article they wrote for the Atlantic in 2015, the book was published in 2018 and is being updated on their website.
@Sackbut and Sastra: Thanks, I’ll check those out.
I haven’t read “The Madness of Crowds” by Murray, but I recently read “The War on the West” by him.
He mostly seemed to make sense. I should check the quotes from the people he is denouncing, a lot of them seem so crazy that I wonder about completeness & context.