The foundation behind SOGI 1-2-3 legislation is publicizing apparent exceptions to Alberta’s parental consent laws.Bill 27, the Education Amendment Act, received Royal Assent last December, but did not take effect until September 1, 2025. The law requires parental permission for students under 16 to change their name or pronouns at school and parental notification for 16- and 17-year-olds. The law also mandates parental opt-in for explicit sexual orientation, gender identity, and human sexuality instruction, and requires Ministry of Education pre-approval for related classroom materials.In a recent email, the ARC Foundation pointed out exceptions to the new restrictions in a three-page booklet posted to sogieducation.org. The foundation funded the SOGI 1-2-3 school resources widely used in British Columbia and, until recently, in some Alberta schools. The booklet says students can still introduce those materials to classmates even though teachers may be forbidden. The resource lists the following examples verbatim.If a student brings in a book from home, the school or a public library and wants to read it for show and tellA student brings in a poster they made for a local pride event and wants to put it up in their classroomA student chooses to do a research project on a noted queer activistA student chooses to do a book report on a book that explicitly talks about gender identity and sexual orientation. .The booklet warns, “There could be community pushback for staff and students. It is important to have administrative and/or divisional support.” The booklet also says that if a student requests new names and pronouns, staff should ask the student “the reason for this change, with compassion and empathy. If their reason is not ‘related to gender identity’ no need to do anything further.” In other words, parents do not need to be told.If the student does admit gender identity is the reason for their requested name and pronoun change, parents still might not be informed.The booklet explains, “Principals must seek advice from qualified, reputable professionals, and defer parent notification until it is determined to be safe.” This list of alleged professionals includes not just social workers and school psychologists, but also a “trusted teacher/adult.”The booklet points out students can still use whatever pronouns and names they want with one another at school. And one of the “exceptions to the rule” for names teachers use allegedly includes when “a student asks to go by a name because that’s what their friends and family call them.”.The document reminds readers that “coming out [as homosexual] is not grounds for parental notification.” The booklet also insists, “Incidental or indirect references to gender identity, sexual orientation or human sexuality are anticipated and still allowed.”This advice gives added weight to separate plans by the Alberta government to remove books with pornographic images and other age-inappropriate books from school shelves. The Edmonton Public School Board listed 200 books it intended to remove to comply with the directive, which. Minister of Education Demetrios Nicolaides and Premier Danielle Smith viewed as too sweeping.Demetrios subsequently informed school boards that they should suspend implementation of the policy as he would be making revisions to it. "I will be revising the order immediately to ensure that our classic literary works remain in school libraries," said Demetrios, in a post to X.
