JULIA FRASER

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1. How have you advocated for the LGBTQ+ community and supported inclusion for the LGBTQ+ community in the past (i.e. have you spoken out publicly for policies at your place of business, testified before government bodies, adopted written policies for your employees, marched for equal rights, etc.)? Please feel free to include events you have participated in and relevant organizations who have endorsed you.

I am in support of the LGBTQ+ community and I use my voice to help others to understand the importance of inclusion and acceptance. As a Trustee on the School Board, I voted in favor in support of the Ministry of Education’s sexual-orientation gender identity program – SOGI 123.  I voted in favor of allowing the MBSS students pain a Rainbow Sidewalk in front of their school.  I suggested that the School Board office also create a Rainbow Sidewalk. A motion was passed last May and I recently requested an update on it’s progress and was told it would be completed by the end of October 2018.

I am in favor of SOGI 123. I think it is important to provide our educators with the necessary resources to assist them in the classroom. It is vital that all students feel welcome and included in our schools.

I think it is important to encourage our students throughout the school district to find their own voice and to feel proud of who they are.  It is often in relation to their peers that children begin to develop a perception of themselves and of the world around them. As such, a student’s experience in school can have a major effect on his or her self-image and self-esteem, and on his or her development in later life.  I believe that providing an ‘inclusive’, accepting environment provides opportunities for our children to develop personally, socially and academically.  I will always use my voice to ensure that all our LGBTQ+ students are accepted and treated respectfully.

We have many resources in place with regards to mental health in order to support our students. I will strive to expand those resources to ensure that there is equality and equal access. 

I believe that post secondary, trades, arts community need to also embrace the SOGI 123 philosophy of inclusion and acceptance.  I believe that with the solid foundation of the implementation of SOGI 123, it’s inclusivity will spread beyond the K-12 school district walls. 

I believe that acceptance and inclusion is the answer as well. Staff need to find ways to encourage more participation of QTBIMPoC in District Student Council and other types of student bodies. Perhaps, staff can improve upon the finding ways to support these students to ensure they see themselves represented in our community.  We need to collaborate between the educators, administrators and school trustees.