Tensions flare outside Ottawa school board meeting amid gender and washrooms discussion
Tensions flared Tuesday night outside an Ottawa school board meeting as trustees heard delegations about gender and washrooms in schools.
More than 200 people were turned away from the meeting after several speakers signed up to discuss transgender students' use of washrooms.
Many of those people rallied outside the board office during the meeting, with police forced to separate the two sides. Many brought signs reading 'Trans rights are human rights,' and other messages in support of transgender students.
The controversy began when parent Nick Morabito signed up earlier this month to speak at the board. In his remarks, he began raising the issue of transgender students using girls' washrooms. An OCDSB policy gives students the right to use the washroom they feel the most comfortable with.
Trustee Dr. Nili Kaplan-Myrth cut Morabito off and called his remarks transphobic.
Morabito was back at Tuesday's board meeting, speaking along with several other delegations.
- Download our app to get local alerts to your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
Despite the clashes outside, the meeting itself was calm. The board put measures in place for safety, including limiting space to 75 members of the public, banning signs and erecting dividers separating the public from the trustees.
"It's much more likely for a trans woman to get assaulted in a washroom especially if they are forced to go to a men's washroom," said Phoebe Qiao, a trans woman. "If they're concerned about young girls potentially getting assaulted in restrooms, then they shouldn't force people like me in with cis men."
Morabito says his issue isn't about trans rights, but rather about washroom safety.
"They need to retrofit the school bathrooms, they need to come up with private floor-to-ceiling stalls they need to do something to make it more amenable to all the students rights," he told CTV News before the meeting.
The OCDSB says 95 per cent of its schools have gender neutral washrooms.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
What's a Barnacle? It's yellow, sticks and screams if you try to pry it off your car
Barnacles, bright yellow devices used to make sure parking scofflaws pay their tickets, could soon be making their way to cities across Canada.
Verdun Airbnb listing taken down amid complaints, fines and frustration from neighbours
An Airbnb in Montreal's Verdun borough was the source of much frustration from neighbours who say there were constant parties at the location. It has been taken down from the app, but housing advocates remain upset about short-term rentals.
Man who set himself on fire outside Trump trial dies of injuries, police say
A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former U.S. President Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said.
They were from different countries and barely spoke each other's languages. More than 20 years later, they're still happily in love
He decided to spend Christmas somewhere that wouldn't involve snowstorm disasters. She was spending the holidays with family, travelling for the first time outside of her native country of Venezuela. 23 years later, they're still in love.
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
A Nigerian chess champion plays the royal game for 60 hours - a new global chess record
A Nigerian chess champion and child education advocate played chess nonstop for 60 hours in New York City's Times Square to break the Guinness World Record for the longest chess marathon.
Fire in Labrador town under control, officials tells residents to stay away
RCMP say the fire that prompted a state of emergency in a Labrador town is now under control.
12 students and teacher killed in Columbine school shooting remembered at 25th anniversary vigil
Thirteen victims of the Columbine High School shooting were remembered during a vigil Friday on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the shooting that was the worst the nation had seen at the time.
Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza city of Rafah kills at least 9 Palestinians, including 6 children
An Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah killed at least nine people, six of them children, hospital authorities said Saturday, as Israel pursued its nearly seven-month offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory.