July 28, 2016
The Manitoba Teachers’ Society is actively discouraging its 15,000 members to travel to Mississippi or North Carolina for professional development opportunities.
MTS General Secretary Bobbi Taillefer has written to the governors of North Carolina and Mississippi informing them of the Society’s fierce opposition to laws recently passed in those two states.
The decision comes from a resolution passed unanimously at MTS’s Annual General Meeting.
The resolution says: “Be it resolved that the Manitoba Teachers’ Society adopt a position opposing participation in PD activities taking place in States within the United States of America that have current legislation which legalizes discrimination towards any group based on race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identification.”
As well, the Society will not approve any PD travel by MTS staff to those states.
North Carolina has passed a law to regulate transgender bathroom access and Mississippi enacted a law that allows people to discriminate against gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people based on religious grounds.
Taillefer says in her letters that the laws are repugnant to teachers.
“Our core values as teachers and educators is to embrace human rights and to work towards removing all bigotry. As teachers, we embrace differences and we believe that every human has the right to the same protections, liberties and rights.
“Until such time as your state legislation aligns with these basic human rights then we will be actively ensuring that no dollars coming from our over 15,000 members will be spent in your state.”
While discussion at the AGM also included other countries that discriminate against the LGBT community, it was decided to focus on the United States.
Worldwide, there are 10 countries where being gay can be punished by death. They are: Yemen, Iran, Mauritania, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates. There are 65 other countries where homosexual acts are outlawed. Earlier this year the Washington Post published an article on the state of gay rights around the world. It can be found here.