Making the Case: 2SLGBTQ+ Rights and Religion in Schools

Despite growing acceptance of 2SLGBTQ+ rights, Canadian schools regularly become battlegrounds in clashes between students wishing to express their sexuality or gender and those who perceive this as a threat to their values.

Making the Case clearly shows how Canadian law responds to what are known as “competing human rights claims,” when conflict arises between people asserting sexual minority rights and those asserting religious rights, for example, when a principal forbids same-sex prom dates or when parents oppose gay-straight alliance clubs. With a focus on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the authors call on related court cases to explain the position of Canadian law. They demonstrate that Canadians have rights to religion and rights to gender expression or sexual orientation; and that supporting sexual minority rights does not undermine other people’s rights to religious freedom.

This accessible book is an important tool for anyone working to create an inclusive school environment or respond to rights-based conflicts within the school system. It establishes conclusively that school cultures must be transformed so that 2SLGBTQ+ students can feel as safe and welcome as their heterosexual and cisgender counterparts.

This important book will help teachers, parents, and school administrators to function as 2SLGBTQ+ allies. Education students, legal scholars, politicians, civil servants, and people of faith who are interested in the issue of 2SLGBTQ+ rights will also find it invaluable.