Federally funded museum links “parental rights” movement to harm, prejudice
Social media campaign frames parental advocacy as rooted in “homophobia,” “transphobia,” and “othering.”
Author: Melanie Bennet
The Canadian Museum for Human Rights is promoting a social media campaign asserting that the “parental rights” movement is “often rooted in transphobia and homophobia and can have very harmful consequences.”
The post marked International Transgender Day of Visibility, the museum said it was “confronting four myths surrounding the parental rights movement, so that we can all help protect 2SLGBTQIA+ youth.”
The campaign defines the movement as “groups of people… targeting 2SLGBTQI+ students in an effort to remove their rights,” adding that in some cases, “they have been successful under the guise of ‘parental rights.’”
According to the museum, the movement seeks to “force teachers to notify parents if a student changes their pronouns or asks to go by another name,” “make sex-ed less accessible,” and “remove books from school and libraries that contain 2SLGBTQI+ content.”
One image states that “while many groups claim they are simply trying to protect their children, the policies they advocate for are often rooted in transphobia and homophobia.”
Another graphic claims that “forcing teachers to inform parents that a student has chosen to change their names or pronouns can have very harmful consequences,” adding that students who are misgendered face “higher risks of anxiety, depression, and thoughts of suicide.”
It further states that when students are “forced to come out to their family,” they risk “family conflict, violence, rejection and homelessness.”
The campaign also argues that such policies “specifically target 2SLGBTQI+ students,” while “cisgender students typically can go by any name they want without parental notice or approval.”
In addressing language used in public debate, the museum states that “often, people try to justify homophobic and transphobic hate speech under the guise of ‘protecting’ their children,” adding that terms such as “pedophile” and “groomer” are used in a process known as “othering.”
A separate post defines “othering” as creating an “‘us versus them’ mentality to legitimize the oppression of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities,” adding that “the same process has been used to justify atrocities around the world.”
The museum references a recent legal case, stating that “in 2025, an Ontario court ordered a person to pay $380,000 in damages after making Facebook posts calling two drag performers ‘groomers’ and ‘pedophiles.’”
The museum states that while the Charter protects “freedom of religion and conscience,” this “does not overrule children’s right to freedom of expression.”
Citing the 1993 Supreme Court of Canada decision in Young v Young, the museum states that “the best interest of the child supersedes any parental beliefs and preferences.”
The campaign disputes the claim that “there are only two genders,” stating that “for as long as humans have existed, there have been more than two genders,” and that “many Indigenous peoples in Canada have always recognized what are now known as Two-Spirit people.”
Another section defines “indoctrination” as “the process of teaching a person or group to accept a set of beliefs uncritically,” stating that curricula including “information about the diversity of genders throughout history” are “accused of being instruments of indoctrination.”
The museum adds that excluding such information is “imposing their own system of indoctrination on children rather than encouraging critical thinking.”
The posts were shared across the museum’s official social media accounts as part of its public education programming.
The museum did not respond to a request for comment.