And you ask me why i like to pretend...

On Monday, the Vancouver School Board approved a policy change aimed at accommodating gender identity and sexual orientation. The motive is admirable enough, to prevent students being singled out, bullied or otherwise discriminated against on the basis of gender. The complexity derives from the board’s determination to allow not just for actual gender, but “perceived” gender, i.e. the gender the student identifies with, as opposed to the gender on their birth certificate. Parents who questioned the change argued, quite reasonably, that six-year-olds aren’t qualified to understand all the intricacies of identity issues. Some of them can’t even use the toilet yet, much less decide which washroom to do it in.

Nonetheless, the school board forged ahead, even deciding to adopt new pronouns for those who would rather pick no gender at all. A last-minute amendment mandated that “xe, xem and xyr” may be used in place of “he/she” or “him/her”. These are “sex-neutral third-person” terms used to repair the failure of the English language to allow for 21st century gender sensitivities. The British long ago began using the term “one” – as in “one does wish for a glass of water” — to get around this problem, but it’s viewed as a bit cold and snooty, and therefore undesirable.

In addition to new pronouns, the Vancouver board also goes to considerable length to protect “privacy”, including, it would seem, keeping the student’s chosen new gender a secret from his/her or xyr parents. A provision in the policy notes that while the student’s chosen gender identity will “whenever possible” be included in class lists and timetables, “communications between school and home shall use a student’s legal name and the pronoun corresponding to the student’s gender assigned at birth” unless otherwise requested. It’s the student’s right to decide “when, with whom, and how much information to share”. They will also have the right “to dress in a manner consistent with their gender identity or gender expression,” even if that is “not consistent with societal expectations of masculinity/femininity.”

Students will be enabled to choose their preferred washroom, or “a reasonable alternative washroom” if they desire “increased privacy.” In such cases the alternative arrangement “will be provided in a way that protects the students’ ability to keep their trans status confidential.” It is not spelled out how other kids will be kept from reaching the obvious conclusion when students are seen using the “alternative washroom,” but that is one of the many difficulties that arises when school boards try to make hard and fast rules related to anything as amorphous as a young person’s self-image, particularly at a stage in development when identity issues are notoriously fraught and individuals are not at a level of maturity ideal for making such critical judgments.