SOGI is a brand new sexual orientation and gender acronym, and it was the subject of School District No. 46 (SD46) District Day’s keynote speeches.
SOGI 123 stands for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and “it’s meant to be an inclusive term because we all have a sexual orientation and a gender identity,” said keynote speaker Steve Mulligan, an elementary school teacher affiliated with UBC who also works for SOGI 123. This also means there is no “SOGI community” and it can’t be used interchangeably with LGBTQ.
“The trouble with that acronym is it’s often expanding and contracting and growing, and for a lot of people, the list of letters, once it gets past about five, people just turn off.”
More than 200 teachers, administrators, board members and guests filled the auditorium at Chatelech Secondary School in Sechelt on Feb. 9 for the keynote. Transgender advocates Tru and Michelle Wilson spoke, in addition to Taylor Straw, a Sunshine Coast resident who campaigns for transgender and LGBTQ rights.
SOGI 123 was created by Vancouver-based ARC Foundation, which worked with the B.C. Ministry of Education, B.C. Teachers’ Federation, the University of British Columbia’s faculty of education, Out in Schools, nine B.C. school districts and LGBTQ organizations to develop the initiative.
In July 2016, gender identity and expression were added as prohibited grounds for discrimination under the B.C. Human Rights code. The BC SOGI Educator Network was launched the same year. In 2017, the Ministry of Education mandated that SOGI be included in anti-bullying policies.
The initiative has been adopted by 51 out of 60 school districts, up from nine last year, according to Mulligan. It was rolled out at SD46 in 2017. The organization teaches volunteers at the district and school levels, who oversee implementation, including education around ministry policies and procedures, guidelines on creating inclusive classrooms and curriculum resources. SOGI is also set to release parent resources, Mulligan said.
Confusion and controversy have accompanied the SOGI rollout, which Mulligan acknowledged during his speech. “There’s been a lot of pushback from some conservative groups and conservative parents” who say they don’t want what they assume is a curriculum enforced in their schools. “It’s not a curriculum, it’s a set of conversations, and it can happen at any time.”
Last November, Chilliwack school trustee Barry Neufeld spoke out against the initiative on Facebook, calling SOGI “propaganda” and that “allowing little children to choose their gender is nothing short of child abuse.” He later apologized for his remarks. At the same time, socially conservative activist groups in the Fraser Valley organized anti-SOGI rallies.
Melissa Bell, district lead for SOGI at SD46, hasn’t experienced any opposition to the initiative on the Sunshine Coast. “As far as I know, we have received little pushback from members of our school and community regarding SOGI,” she wrote in an email after the event, noting the initiative is still new to the Coast.
Bell said the keynote subject matter was chosen as “an opportunity to inform teachers about SD46’s involvement with the SOGI Inclusive Education initiative.” She also wanted to use it as an opportunity to “plug” gender-sexuality alliance groups, which some elementary schools on the Sunshine Coast are trying to start in their schools this year.
Each school in the district has a SOGI school lead responsible for implementing SOGI policies and initiatives. SD46 leads are currently undergoing training. Leads can be reached via the schools’ principals or by contacting Bell: [email protected]. Those interested in learning more about SOGI can visit its website: www.sogieducation.org
