Banned From Teaching : Termination Punishment for Questioning Premature Medical Transition

Carolyn Burjoski, Jan. 21, 2022

"I am not a transphobic person. It's crazy that just because  you ask a question, the first thing people do is call you that. We do need to have a conversation about the intersection of biology and gender. We're not having those conversations in our culture because, look what happened to me."

"The message is clear: no dissent is allowed."

"[Books judged appropriate on gender dysphoria in school libraries aimed at impressionable children make it seem simple to take cross sex hormones; misleading] because it does not take into account how Shane might feel later in life about being infertile. This book makes very serious medical interventions seem like an easy cure for emotional and psychological distress." 

"The following morning H.R. informed me that I was immediately assigned to home, pending a formal investigation and banned from contacting my colleagues and students. This was particularly upsetting to me because I love my students, and I have not seen them since December."

Carolyn Burjoski, Ontario school teacher, Waterloo Region District

"This person was speaking about transgender people in a way that was disrespectful, that would cause them to be attacked and I really needed to ensure it did not continue."

"I'm quite confident it was the right decision."

"[I would not repeat or respond to her remarks and] give them oxygen."

Scott Piatkowski, chair, Waterloo Region District School Board

"I'm not sorry that someone who opened the door to transphobic comments was stopped from keeping that door open."

"That's not overreach. Protect the most vulnerable. Uphold human rights."

"If you can't do that, sit down."

Laura Mae Lindo, NDP MPP, Kitchener Centre

 

"It's censoring presentations that the chair doesn't agree with."

"As decision makers, we have to make informed decisions ... If we're going to just take one point of view and say that's sufficient, that's wrong on so many fronts."

Mike Ramsay, board member and three-time chair, Waterloo Region District School Board

CityNews file photo

 

Discussions on certain topics are forbidden by the very delicate 'hands-off' position taken by the neo-liberal-left wokeism that appears to have transfixed society at every level in hushed tones of compassion for the traditional victimized; members of the LGBTQ-2 community who now demand -- and society is eager to acquiesce to -- unquestioning acceptance that any child expressing bewilderment or uncertainty about his/her biological gender, must be guided toward the alternate gender identification.

To question the unquestionable sanctity of 'respect' for juvenile transgenderism now routinely accepted by the broad medical fraternity, legal experts, academia, and much of the general public, is to invite oneself being inducted into the shamed halls of persona non grata doubters -- 'transphobics' -- whose presence can only be of grave harm to the well-being of the vulnerable young whose emotional and future prospects as well-balanced and healthy individuals they presumed to speak for.

Some people who are in constant contact with children and see directly the confusion and uncertainty they exhibit, fail to weigh the consequences of speaking out rashly and subjectively on these very emotional topics. As did Carolyn Burjoski when she was shut down in making a presentation to her regional school board group. She had commented on the books to be fund in school libraries to serve students from Kindergarten to Grade six.

As she spoke she was admonished that her comments on transgender issues violated the province's human rights code. The personal opinion she had articulated was that the books made it appear simple and 'cool' to medically transition to another gender. And then her presentation was cut short by the Board's chair who ruled she could not continue; the board following up in his support to vote 5-4 on his decision.

Most transgender advocates will not accept controversial questioning of gender-dysphoria and are downright opposed to discussing any complications that might ensue in future when children are prematurely guided to transition to the alternate gender. On the other hand, concerns have been expressed, including by leading figures in the transgender movement itself, that gender-dysphoric young people are on occasion too aggressively ushered toward medical transition.

Following the incident, the teacher received what she named a "stay-at-home order", informed she must not communicate with colleagues or students. She remains on the payroll and was set to soon retire. Her union representative informed her that the board appointed an outside investigator to examine her record on the issue. She was 'flabbergasted' by the meeting's procedure and the remarks of the chair that followed.

The order she received to distance herself from the school was meant, she believes, to make an example of her. The chair, asked to explain how the teacher's comments violated the human rights code that bars discrimination based on gender identity and other grounds in areas of housing, employment and services provision, simply responded that he could not repeat what she had intimated, but he stood by his decision.

Carolyn Burjoski was in classrooms for over 20 years as a teacher of English as a second language, her specialty, teaching children who immigrated from various countries affected by war and political unrest. The board had made a controversial decision to conduct a system-wide removal of books it considered 'harmful' to children's mental health, and teacher Carolyn Burjoski appeared as a one-person public 'delegation' in a session to discuss that decision.

Her comments reflected a focus on resources recommended as appropriate by the board for a transgender awareness day. She addressed the issue of a particular publication titled The Other Boy, zeroing in on a scene depicting a meeting between a transgender boy (born a girl) and a doctor. The boy expresses excitement at the prospect of beginning testosterone therapy, when the physician warns that hormone therapy would likely render him incapable of having children, and the boy replies: "it's cool".

When the teacher remarked such books appear to simplify taking cross-sex hormones neglecting to mention outcomes and consequences, the chair interjected, warning her she could be violating the human rights code. She continued her comments that the book was misleading, not delivering complete information, simplifying a complex procedure, and mentioning nothing of an altered future. Which was the point when the chair stated he was "ending the presentation".

Carolyn Burjoski, bottom row left, was ejected from this Waterloo Region District School Board virtual meeting for expressing concerns over content in some board-approved school library books. Photo by Screen grab