As a response to the anti-SOGI protest in Prince Albert yesterday, one local church decided to offer the gender diverse community a safe place to have a pot luck. (Susan McNeil/paNOW)

By Susan McNeil

Safe places

‘Love thy neighbour’: P.A. church offers trans community safe place to be

Sep 22, 2023 | 6:00 AM

Wanting to find a way to counter what she knew would be a day filled with fear and stress, local Reverend Norah Vedress decided to host a pot-luck supper for Prince Albert’s 2SLGBTQI+ community on Wednesday.

She started worrying after recent changes by the provincial government on mandatory reporting for students who want to change their pronouns based on their gender identity.

“There’s a lot of questions and concerns for many of us around not only the intention of the policy of the policy but what the ultimate effects are going to be,” Vedress said.

While many believe parents should be included in their child’s education, others argue consideration needs to be given to transgender students and their ability to be who they want, while making sure school is safe.

Most homes are also safe places, Vedress said, but they are not always safe and that needs to be taken into account.

Court proceedings

Psych assessment to be ordered for man accused of killing his mother

2h ago

PA to the Pros

Former Raider Nolan Allan makes NHL debut with Chicago

2h ago

Tuesday Tilt

Mintos fall to Blazers as special teams struggle

4h ago

One trans person who was involved in the counter-protest in downtown Prince Albert on Wednesday told paNOW about an uncle who had been like a father all their life, threatening to shoot them if they stepped foot on his property after they came out.

Limiting sexual health education and what students learn about healthy relationships is also a major concern, given Saskatchewan’s “astronomical” rates of teen pregnancy and STD rates, Vedress said.

Teacher groups and the provincial child advocate have raised alarm bells about the policy change and how it will impact students.

With those concerns at the top of her mind, the content being displayed by followers of the 1MillionMarch4Children event in Prince Albert, was even more alarming for the Reverend.

“Some people think that schools are trying to indoctrinate children into being gay; something that is not possible according to both that community and experts,” she said.

“That’s really dangerous language. Some of the stuff that’s being posted is quite terrifying to me.”

Given her own priority on creating safe communities, Vedress said that was not the goal of the march.

“Marches like this aren’t about creating safety. When we’re spending a lot of time and energy on already marginalized communities, I question the validity of this being about keeping people safe,” she said.

“The language they’re using isn’t safe language. It’s very aggressive. It’s very angry. It’s fear-based and it’s not fact-based, a lot of it.”

Vedress said one way to keep fear at bay is to focus on facts.

The Saskatchewan division of the United Church talked about creating safe spaces without putting people at risk.

Locally, they wanted to create a peaceful, safe place for the gender-diverse community, so they opened up Calvary United Church for that purpose.

As a minister with compassion for others, Vedress said she knew the marchers were acting out of fear for their own children.

“I know these people love their kids, of course, they do. But it’s not always about me loving my kids. It has to be about me loving my neighbour’s kids as well,” she said.

Despite the challenge of loving others who are not your family and being lovable in return, it can be done with intention, she said.

“If we act out of a place of fear all the time, then we’re going to create a fear-filled world. If we act out of love, then we’re going to create a love-filled world.”

—

susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com