Vernon school district steers anti-SOGI campaigners to BC government

A flood of letters opposing the provincial Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity position should go to the province not the school board, according to School District 22 superintendent Christine Perkins.

An anti-SOGI tirade caused school board members to walk out of their Dec. 13 meeting. That has been followed with a slew of emails to the board, city councillors, MLA Harwinder Sandhu, MP Mel Arnold and one media outlet.

Perkins and school board trustees declined to talk to iNFOnews.ca about the anti-SOGI protestors.

READ MORE: IN VIDEO: Vernon school board meeting disrupted and shut down by protesters

“I decline to speak about them at this time,” Perkins wrote in an email to INFOnews.ca, Jan. 18, referring to the latest email campaign.

She did say that a “significant number” of material has been received and included a copy of the email and an attached letter from SOGI opponents.

City of Vernon communication officer Josh Winquist confirmed in an email the correspondence had been received by the city but declined comment since “this is not an issue related to municipal government.”

MLA Sandhu did not respond to a request from comment from iNFOnews.ca.

“It is important to note that the Ministry of Education and Child Care is responsible for all education legislation regarding SOGI in BC schools,” Perkins wrote in a separate email to iNFOnews.ca. “Boards of Education (School Trustees) in BC have no authority over this legislation, nor do Boards of Education have any authority over curriculum or educational resources (like SOGI 123).”

READ MORE: What is SOGI 123 and why should it matter to you?

The letter from the anti-SOGI group – which runs to more than 3,800 words – says, among many other things: ‘The SOGI 123 Program does not need to be implemented in school districts. It’s a choice.’”

The protest email is from Sacheen Collecutt and the steering committee of Standup Vernon. It includes links to its own website, the North Okanagan Shuswap Truth & Freedom Movement website and that group’s Facebook page.

The email calls on the school board to “stop SOGI teachings in schools,” suggesting it promotes mental illness and is mental abuse, among other things.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Rob Munro or call 250-808-0143 or email the editor. You can also submitphotos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here.