The Anglophone South School District and some people in the Belleisle school community are at odds over the suspension of a student for wearing a “straight pride” shirt during the school’s Pride Week.
Jaxon McDonald, a Grade 10 student at Belleisle Regional High School, was suspended for five days after he wore a T-shirt with the words “straight pride” on the front.
Jaxon said he wasn’t looking to offend with the shirt and wore it when inclusivity was the theme of the day’s Pride events.
“I wanted to wear my shirt to feel included, just like anyone else could wear any other type of shirt.,” he said in an interview. “So I wear my shirt on this week just to express who I am and what I believe in.”
A petition signed by 390 people was tabled in the legislature Tuesday and calls for the removal of the principal and for “new leadership that reflects the principles of fairness, inclusivity, and respect for all community members.”
The petition said Jaxon was told by school administrators that wearing the shirt constituted a “hate crime,” and for that he was suspended for five days.
A spokesperson for Anglophone South said in a statement that the petition and the comments of the McDonald family “present a distorted account of the situation and omit important context.”
“This petition appears to be part of a bad faith campaign, using human rights and freedom of expression as a pretext for anti-2SLGBTQ+ sentiment,” district spokesperson Jessica Hanlon said in an email.
“We are aware there is a selective narrative being shared regarding this matter, and dispute many of the stated facts of the petition.”
Jaxon’s father, Rob McDonald, said he’s frustrated with the handling of his son’s suspension, as well as the treatment of several students who opted out of one of the Pride events.
Parents have launched a petition calling for the principal of Belleisle Regional High School to be replaced after a student who wore a ‘straight pride’ shirt during Pride Week was suspended.
“They told me it was a hate crime, an act of hate,” the father said. “And they couldn’t give me any more reason than that.
“They really didn’t want to hear our side of the story, and they didn’t want to hear his side of the story, wouldn’t let him talk. So there was no discussion around it.”
The district turned down a request for an interview with superintendent Derek O’Brien. Hanlon said the district wouldn’t say which details they dispute in order to protect student privacy.
“To avoid lending any credence to rhetoric that misrepresents our values and the facts, we will be offering no further comment,” she wrote.
Belleisle principal Jennifer McFadden did not answer an email from CBC News.
Other students told to leave school property, petition says
McDonald said Jaxon’s suspension was just one issue that caused community members to organize the petition.
He told CBC that a couple of students whose parents had signed forms opting out of one of the Pride events were told by an administrator that they would either have to go to the event or leave school property.
The petition makes the same claim and highlights the school’s responsibility for the safety of students during instructional hours. It adds that department policies say students who opt out of pride events should be “respectfully accommodated within the school.”
According to McDonald, one Grade 6 student hid in the bathroom rather than leave school property.
McDonald is a longtime volunteer with the school, helping the shop teacher with welding instruction and assisting with a club where students built a racing truck. The day Jaxon was suspended, McDonald was told he would no longer be allowed to volunteer with the school, which he believes is retaliation for his son’s shirt.
“Being told you can’t take part and help out these kids, the kids are in the end the ones losing because they really rely on those volunteer services and it’s just not fair to them,” he said.
McDonald said the petition was started after the district said disciplinary action was the purview of the school and suggested he speak to his MLA about any further concerns.
The petition was tabled in the legislature and signed by Kings Centre Progressive Conservative MLA Bill Oliver. Fellow PC MLAs Bill Hogan and Don Monahan also signed the petition.
Oliver wouldn’t comment on the specifics of the situation and said his support of the petition is to ensure his constituents are heard. But he wouldn’t say whether wearing a “straight pride” shirt was hateful or could be upsetting for members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community.
“I think that’s a reflection of the concern that the community has,” Oliver said. “Belleisle is a very tolerant community. You know, there’s no issue with whether it’s gay pride or straight pride or whatever. I mean, everybody’s accepted in the area.
“It was just the way and the manner, I think, that the punishment was meted out.”
Oliver and his fellow PC signatories were criticized in the legislature on Wednesday, when government House leader Marco LeBlanc called on interim PC Leader Glen Savoie and any party leadership hopefuls to condemn the move.
“Three members of his caucus chose to sign a petition rooted in division and intolerance,” he said.
Opportunity for broader conversation, minister says
Education Minister Claire Johnson said she had been briefed on what happened but wouldn’t say whether she thought the situation was properly handled by the school. She did say the wearing of a “straight pride” shirt at school is “problematic.”
Johnson said the situation was a good opportunity for a broader conversation.
“There are still important conversations to be had in New Brunswick about vulnerable populations and creating safe spaces in school, so I’m looking forward to having that important dialogue.”
McDonald said the province’s child and youth advocate has begun investigating. A spokesperson said the advocate’s office doesn’t confirm whether it’s investigating specific cases.
Words unlikely to constitute hate speech, lawyer says
According to Kerri Froc, a constitutional lawyer at the University of New Brunswick, it’s unlikely that just wearing a “straight pride” shirt would rise to the level of hate speech or even violate human rights law.
Hate speech in Canada requires the incitement of violence, and to violate human rights statutes requires more than an act being offensive.
But schools have to balance their legal responsibility to provide a safe learning environment with the allowance of the right to free expression, Froc said.
“It’s a legal issue but maybe not the legal issue that they thought it was, of this being a hate crime if that’s indeed what was said. They have a statutory mandate and they have to balance that mandate with Charter values like free expression.”
Froc added that context is important and that a stronger reaction may be warranted should there be an existing issue of anti-2SLGBTQ+ sentiment or actions.
Annabelle Babineu, a 2SLGBTQ+ artist and educator, said she understands why some people might not think the idea of straight pride is problematic. But, she said, the very idea of Pride is rooted in a reaction to oppression.
“Pride is a protest, it’s ‘Please stop killing us, please stop hurting us,'” she said.
“We are also taking the shame that we have grown up with and flipping it into pride. That’s why it’s our Pride. We need it. It’s to lift each other up and so we can keep going. Finding that joy at Pride helps us keep going in the face of death threats and all that nonsense.”
