Two Niverville high school students say they were shut down by the school’s administration on the day they were given permission to hold a peaceful protest. Two weeks later, they were offered an apology—and an explanation. 

Protest Plans 

In advance of the school’s grand opening ceremony on October 29, students Laura Guenette and Sarah Salter decided to plan a peaceful protest in defiance of MP Ted Falk, who had been invited to participate in the event.

Falk, they say, has for years vocally and actively advocated against the rights of women and those in the LGBTQ community. As young women and members of Niverville High School’s Sexuality and Gender Alliance (SAGA), they take umbrage with his stance.

“I was the one that told [the girls] to talk to the administration first,” says Sarah’s father, Don Salter. “I said, ‘I don’t want you guys rushing in there and causing a scene.’ I wanted them to organize something that would be effective without [being offensive].”

With Don’s support, Sarah began creating T-shirts with slogans like “My Body, My Choice, My Rights” and “Love is a Human Right.” Laura approached the vice principal, Graham Sereda, to seek his approval to wear the custom-made attire to the event on October 29.

Laura and Sarah’s hope was to simply catch Mr. Falk’s attention through their silent message from their spot in the bleachers at the rear of the gymnasium.

“At first [Mr. Sereda] was supportive of [a peaceful protest], or at least it seemed that way,” says Laura. “He gave us tips on how to do it.”

Also in approval of the plan was at least one of the teachers responsible for organizing the weekly SAGA meetings—as the students know her, “Miss Jennifer.” The girls say that Miss Jennifer agreed to wear one of Sarah’s T-shirts to support them. 

Day of the Protest 

On the morning of the grand opening, though, everything seemed to change. Before 10:00 a.m., Laura says she was pulled out of class by the vice principal and told to change out of the shirt and rainbow cape which she wore. Miss Jennifer was also asked not to wear the special shirt made for her.

Shortly after, Salter began receiving text messages from an upset Sarah. When he reached out to the school administration for answers, Sereda indicated that he’d been taken by surprise when he realized there were others, not just Laura, who planned to wear the shirts. According to Salter, Sereda said that someone had become worried that the affair would get out of hand.

“I asked him, ‘Can you tell me, of the shirts you saw, what was offensive?’” Salter says. “He said he absolutely could not tell me that there was anything wrong with any of the shirts… At the end of the conversation, I still did not know who was responsible for trying to put a stop to it.”

Shortly after, Salter pursued Hanover School Division (HSD) Superintendent Randy Dueck for answers.

“I didn’t feel as if the administration was taking it seriously enough,” Salter says. “I asked the girls, ‘How far do you want to go with this? Do you want to go to the news?’ and they said, ‘Absolutely!’ As soon as CBC contacted Randy and the vice principal, then things started to happen.” 

Pulled Out of Classrooms 

A few days later, Sarah and Laura say they and three other members of the SAGA group were pulled from their classrooms and asked to gather in the Learning Commons. Principal Kimberley Funk and Vice-Principal Sereda attempted to explain their position on what had happened during the very busy morning of the grand opening.

“[Ms. Funk] took us to the Learning Commons, which is full of windows, and we had to wait there for the longest time,” Laura says. “Basically, all they said was that it was a miscommunication or misunderstanding… We didn’t get an apology at all. Miss Jennifer was given an apology… but none of us SAGA members did and I’m still heated about that.”

This act of pulling SAGA members from their classrooms, too, was a breach of privacy and trust, the girls say. When students are pulled from their classroom, for any reason, parents are notified.

Some of the SAGA students called to the Learning Commons that day could well have been students who were in fear of telling their parents about their LGBTQ leanings. For some of these students, opening up to other LGBTQ members of the group has been difficult enough without the humiliation of being exposed to their families as well.

“I’m really concerned about this administration… based on the history of the school division and the missteps that just keep happening,” Salter says. “All I hear is talk of how supportive they are and yet I don’t see it.” 

Meeting with Superintendent 

Two weeks after the grand opening, HSD superintendent Randy Dueck met with Laura and Sarah and NHS administration.

“We took the time to listen, engage in meaningful dialogue, and discuss steps forward,” Dueck told The Citizen. “As a division, we are always open to engaging our school communities and learning from our experiences.”

Dueck added that the school division assumes full responsibility for what he calls a misunderstanding and lapse in communication and suggests that NHS staff will continue to provide for open conversations with the students.

“Our staff is committed to providing a safe, inviting, and inclusive learning environment that respects the human rights, diversity, and dignity of all students and their families,” Dueck says. “We hold passionately to this belief and will continue to do so.”

By the end of the meeting, the young ladies were left with the impression that Vice-Principal Sereda had, in fact, vehemently advocated for them to have their protest but the decision to stymie it came from the top.

When asking how they can have assurances that this kind of thing won’t happen again, Dueck told them, “Because you’re talking to me.” He also commended the young ladies for their desire to stand up and protest, telling them, “Way to go!”

The Citizen was not provided access to any NHS staff for comment. 

Previous Controversies 

The Hanover School Division has found itself at the centre of the LGBTQ controversy before. In 2013, the division ruled in favour of student Evan Wiens, who went up against Steinbach Regional Secondary School policy when he hung up posters advertising the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance.

Three years later, though, the board faced public scrutiny over their response to a young Mika Schellenberg who’d pled with the board of trustees to update the division’s diversity policies to better include LGBTQ people.

While the majority of the nine trustees at the time disagreed with changing the policies, two responses made headline news far beyond division walls.

One trustee balked at the idea of ending a divisional policy that stated a parent must be contacted if a child initiated a conversation with a teacher about homosexuality or gender diversity. He suggested that to remove the parents from the equation would be akin to going back down the path of residential schools.

Another trustee, trained as a medical professional, attempted to make a correlation between the sex education curriculum taught in Toronto and rising incidences of cancer.

Later that same spring, a human rights complaint was lodged against HSD by partners Michelle McHale and Karen Phillips due to the division’s refusal to change their practice of excluding sexual orientation and gender identity from discussion in elementary and middle years classrooms.

Soon after, Manitoba Teachers Society president Norman Gould spoke to HSD trustees, encouraging them to make their schools more inclusive for LGBTQ students.

But again in 2018, an HSD trustee seeking re-election was called out on his platform to keep sex education, sexual orientation, and gender identity out of Hanover classrooms in order to preserve the “innocence of children.”

While Sarah and Laura received their apology, they’d still like to see some action. If the school division is truly ready to support diversity, the girls suggest that members of the administration attend SAGA and Gay-Straight Alliance meetings, engage in open conversations about it with all students, and recognize a school-run Pride day.