Vernon school trustee candidate confused about SOGI 123 policy

A former Vernon school district trustee and current candidate is blaming artificial intelligence for comments he made online about giving parents the choice to opt out of SOGI 123, while continuing to flip-flop on the issue.

Former School District No. 22, Vernon, board chair Robert Lee says he got the wrong information from AI about the sexual orientation and gender identity policy, which led him to post that parents and students should have the option of opting out.

“I made a mistake, and I said I corrected that and I stand to be corrected,” Lee told iNFOnews.ca.

However, Lee also told iNFOnews.ca that SOGI 123 was optional for teachers, and questioned whether it could be for parents.

“Perhaps we should look at something that allows parents to say… I think I can handle the sexual orientation and gender identity as a family, and we can have that as a family discussion and probably get more relevance out of that one than we would have it woven within the school,” Lee said.

Despite two terms as a school district trustee, Lee’s understanding of how SOGI 123 works fluctuates.

“SOGI is basically a teaching toolkit that teachers can use on a lot of these topics, which are covered under the umbrella of the BC Human Rights Code. They have the option to use all of it, none of it, some of it, or go to other programs, which they believe are more suited to them,” Lee said.

Vernon Teachers’ Association president Lisa Laboucane said its not something teachers choose to do.

“Teachers aren’t opting in or opting out, it’s not structured that way,” Laboucane told iNFOnews.ca. “Teachers are expected to build safe and welcoming classrooms, and SOGI is a way that we can learn strategies, learn about resources in order to support that.”

In recent years, misinformation about SOGI 123 has become rife online, with opponents incorrectly stating it is something that is “taught” in classrooms. During the 2022 school trustee elections, numerous candidates made wildly incorrect statements about SOGI 123, with groups like Action4Canada fanning the flames, accusing the Central Okanagan school district of “sexually grooming children.”

Lee made his initial comments after being asked on social media what his position on SOGI 123 was.

“I think students and parents should have the option to take SOGI 123 or decline it,” Lee responded. “It’s not a curricular subject that is required to graduate. Parents and students should make the choice that works for them.”

SOGI 123 has been around for a decade, and during that time Lee was a trustee, but he later blamed his statements on using information gleaned from AI.

“I looked it up (with AI)… and I made the assumption based on that. And… boy, did I look stupid,” Lee said.

However, District Parent Advisory Council lifetime member Gladys Fraser said it was “unusual” that Lee wouldn’t understand what SOGI 123 was seeing as he did two terms as a trustee.

“Given the amount of extensive opportunities there were in the district for engagement to understand it, it would be concerning that a trustee didn’t have an understanding of what it was,” Fraser told iNFOnews.ca.

It’s difficult to pin down where Lee stands on SOGI 123.

Lee said his mistake came because it’s optional for teachers.

“The teacher has the right to opt out of SOGI and find other replacement projects… that’s totally within their prerogative,” he said.

However, Laboucane says that’s simply not the case.

“Teachers are expected to build safe and welcoming classrooms, and SOGI is a way that we can learn strategies, learn about resources in order to support that,” she said. “It’s a toolkit for us as professionals to use… so for somebody to say that we as professionals would opt out of that work, we would never opt out of that work.”

Lee denies he’s anti-SOGI 123, but pinning Lee down on how he got it wrong is a little harder.

After asking to clarify several times why he thought parents and students could opt out, he hung up the phone.