Arguments over constitutionality of Sask. pronoun policy set for November

On Tuesday, a Regina court heard an injunction application filed against the Government of Saskatchewan’s pronoun policy.

The policy requires parental permission for children under 16 to change their preferred names or pronouns in school.

UR Pride, a student organization at the University of Regina, made the injunction application.

It argued that the policy requires the misgendering of students and the outing of those who choose to change pronouns.

An injunction would suspend the policy while its constitutionality is debated.

“It’s telling that this policy came together in nine days in the summer. We say that is a good reason for the court to doubt that the government really was acting in the public interest here,” Adam Goldenberg, a lawyer for UR Pride told CTV News.

“You’d think that if a policy was going to affect the interests of young people – that it was going to affect the constitutional rights, there would be expert consultation. The school divisions would be brought to the table, that there would’ve been meaningful discussion about this.”

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The government argued that UR Pride is not the correct organization to seek a court injunction.

The province said the group is a university club that has nothing to do with school students. UR Pride says it provides support to gay/straight alliances in schools.

The government stressed that the pronoun policy only applies to children under the age of 16 and parental involvement is not required until a student decides to move forward with a pronoun change.

A decision on the injunction application will come at a later date.

Lawyers will be back in the Court of King’s Bench in November to argue the constitutionality of the government’s pronoun policy.