The family of Bella Burgos, a transgender girl who filed a discrimination complaint against the River East Transcona School Division, said they received word the file is moving to adjudication.
A board of commissioners at the Manitoba Human Rights Commission met in early September, and “from the looks of it, it was determined that no reasonable accommodations were made, and that we move forward to adjudication now,” said Bella’s father Dale.
Bella Burgos transitioned from male to female in the summer of 2014.
When she returned to Joseph Teres School that fall, she wanted to use the girl’s washroom.
In October, a parent complained, and Bella’s family said the then-8-year-old child was forced to use a gender-neutral washroom.
After going back and forth with the school, the family brought a complaint of discrimination to the Manitoba Human Rights Commission.
Earlier this year, the commission agreed that the school did exhibit instances of discrimination against Bella.
Since mediation began, Dale Burgos said the family received two responses from the school division. They chose not to reply to one response, and did respond to the second which came in late August.
The family is looking for changes in administrative procedures, education and a policy on gender identity and inclusion in the school division.
Burgos said the school division replied with draft policies that didn’t have a concrete direction.
“There were, I’m going to say, holes, loopholes in there that could still cause the same incidents that our daughter had experienced in that school.”
The River East Transcona School division replied to CTV’s request for comment with the following statement:
“We want to first and foremost respect the privacy and confidentiality this case requires. But we do want to say that River East Transcona is committed to making our schools a safe place for all students – and specific to this case – transgendered students. We’re fully supportive of the process of a public hearing and we’re committed to its findings. We’ll have further comments as this process evolves and recommendations become clear.”
Bella has started the new school year in Nanaimo, B.C.
Her father said the experience there has been fantastic. “She’s thriving here. She’s got some great friends already,” said Burgos.
He calls the experience very different when compared to the situation in Winnipeg.
“The school district itself has longstanding policies in place addressing inclusion and gender identity,” said Burgos, who attributes the policies to experience with similar situations.
He wants to let the public know Bella’s story is about more than just bathrooms, and says it’s wrong to think about it in that way.
“It’s about saying this is who I am. You’ve accepted me and you’re not telling me to go and use a bathroom somewhere and that it’s my bathroom to use,” said Burgos. “It’s basically segregating and that’s not really what we’re looking for in this case.”
No date is set for adjudication, and Burgos said it could be a long process.
Burgos and his wife plan to attend the public hearing in Winnipeg when it does begin.
