Discussions

It was great to see so many show up! Brandon - you did good last night.

Even made Maxime Bernier tuck tail and run!! Think he found himself in the small minority.  
 
This shows that there is STRONG LGBTQ+ support here!!

Brandon came out and stood up for what's right last night.  
I am an openly gay man that was put through the BSD 25 years ago. They failed me then. I was relentlessly bullied, spit on, chased, harassed, threatened and ultimately forced to drop out of high school because it just wasn't safe for me to be there. it was repeatedly mentioned to me by adults at the time that maybe i should try harder to make friends. that perhaps i needed to be less myself in order to fit in. have you tried not being gay, they asked. was i bringing it on myself, they asked.  
after high school i found the people i should have been surrounded by. i made it in the end. i got a good job, got myself educated. but the BSD failed me then.  
The BSD made up for it last night. The people of Brandon came out and said they had enough of the nonsense.  
That trauma i experienced slipped a little further away last night. Healing. And it's about time.  
Breeanna Sieklicki needs to resign her post immediately.

I don't agree that Breanna Sieklicki should resign from her position.  
 
I also don't agree with her opinion but it is just that, an opinion. She was outvoted.  
 
That's the entire point of a vote and she shouldn't be forced to resign or be fired because of her opinion.

That was a masterclass in democracy.  
 
A solid reminder to everyone that who you vote for matters. All levels of government have influence in shaping our communities.  
 
The overwhelming majority of speakers were clearly educated, caring and compassionate people. We're in good hands if these are the leaders of tomorrow.

in response to "I don't agree that Breanna Sieklicki should resign from her position.  
I also don't agree with her opinion but it is just that, an opinion. She was outvoted.  
That's the entire point of a vote and she shouldn't be forced to resign or be fired because of her opinion."  
 
 
 
... it wasn't just an opinion but something more egregious, as with the person who made the request and those who supported it. The whole incident was disingenuous right from the start, which was very evident from the (false) claims that were being made to the bigoted tropes that were being raised. And her agreement to all of that shows where her morals and values lie, and they go against the values of the school division and the community, "enable each student to achieve maximum intellectual, emotional, social and physical growth". If she is not going to work towards that goal and value, she does not deserve to be a trustee.  
 
Edited by LukeD, 2023-05-24 11:46:42

Maxine had a 9pm curfew for probation and had to go home.

ha ha - too funny Trevor!

LGBTQ aside. What about the books that sound like pornography on paper? I’m just looking for opinions. Not saying I agree or disagree. I just want to hear others views.

Just a note-I am very happy the LGTBQ info stays. Appealed this was even an issue.

Corrected

I take those perspectives with a grain of salt.  
 
I occasionally pick up the books my kids are reading and read them. One in particular comes to mind that is on the "pornography" accusation list in some US states. That surprised me, because I had to think really hard to remember if there was explicit sex in it. I think it had a total of 3 pages (out of hundreds) that described awkward teen attempts at sex. It wasn't the focal point on the story.  
 
Pornography, in my opinion, needs to have sex as the point/focus. These stories might have sexuality in them, but so does life. I don't know if you picked up any of what I think of as Amish porn (those "Christian romance" novels), but their entire storyline focuses entirely on getting a guy and getting married so they can have sex. They're pretty much the same novel over and over again. Are those preferable?  
 
Twenty or 30 years ago, we were, as teens, reading books like Clan of the Cave Bear. So much graphic sex. I loved the stories as a story, but would literally just skip the sex parts because the were, frankly, boring. I don't remember there being the uproar there is now.  
 
As for sex ed books, they have a purpose. I had some as a kid, and I've taken them out of the public library myself as an adult to give to my kids to read as a conversation starter. Because that's the whole point - they are supposed to be conversation starters. That shouldn't be the entirety of your child's sex education.  
 
And I'm saying all these things as a fairly conservative religious person. I don't like gatekeeping books. Who does that gatekeeping? Who claims authority to decide what is appropriate? Books are about ideas, and keeping ideas away from them isn't necessarily the best way to "protect" them.  
 
Open dialogue and fostering trust is how we protect them, by sharing our values and teaching them how to navigate situations that differ from our values.