Failure to push back against a law giving students the right to a gay-straight alliance tells the provincial government it can steamroll over parents' rights and religious freedoms, speakers told a rally outside the Alberta legislature.



"If we do not make our voices heard, we will find comprehensive sex ed imposed on our kids," said Sara Hudson, a mother with Parents for Choice in Education.



Introduced by the former Progressive Conservative government, and passed unanimously by the legislature in 2015, Bill 10 requires schools and school districts to establish a gay-straight alliance or similar support group when a student requests one. The bill also amended the Alberta Bill of Rights to protect people from discrimination based on their sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.



Hudson said the legislative changes are a "gross overreach" of government into parents' lives, and called for it to be amended.



"As long as Bill 10 remains on the books as written, the government knows it can violate religious freedoms, parental rights, and freedom of association," Hudson said at the Saturday afternoon rally in front of the legislature.



The event, which had been planned since November, had organizers arrange for busloads of supporters to come to Edmonton for the event.



In an emailed statement Saturday, Education Minister David Eggen said he has no intention of eliminating the Bill of Rights clause that lets parents opt children out of sex education.



Eggen said his office is aware of the group's concerns and has attempted to contact representatives this week.



"Spreading misinformation does nothing to support our students," Eggen's statement said.



In response to the Parents for Choice in Education rally, LGBTQ advocates and their allies held another rally earlier Saturday decrying what they call intolerant attitudes to people who are gender diverse.



About 150 people held signs reading, "Parents for peaceful peeing," "Acceptance, love and understanding are choices, too," and "Not about bathrooms, like it was never about water fountains."



Red Deer teacher Everett Tetz said he's frustrated he must keep fighting up for LGBTQ rights because of a "small minority locked in a world view."



"Standing on the wrong side of human rights history is always a losing fight," he said.





Sandra Collisson, a mother of two, said she came to the "Everyone Can Pee" rally to put an end to ignorance, hate, and fear.



"Some families would rather shun their child. Gay-straight alliance groups can give children the support and the strength to face their parents in the cases where they feel they can't get to their parents to tell them, 'I'm a different gender,' or 'I'm gay,' or, 'I'm bi(sexual).' "



The current obsession with "what's in other people's pants" is making washrooms less safe for androgynous or transgender people than it has been in the past, she said.



A handful of arguments broke out between protesters from each camp when the anti-Bill 10 people arrived. In one exchange, Medicine Hat pastor Sheldon Johnston called transgender Edmonton woman Marni Panas "sir" at least four times.



Organizer Theresa Ng said about 2,300 people attended the parental choice rally.



Ng, a mother who has worked as a teacher, takes umbrage with a guidelines document published by the government in January meant to help school boards put legal changes into practice.



The guidelines recommend avoiding gender-based words, allowing students to use bathrooms and change rooms that match their lived gender, and not to disclose information about a student's gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation to parents or others without the student's permission. School boards were required to submit new or updated policies to the education minister by the end of March spelling out how they would protect the rights of LGBTQ students and staff.



Alberta teachers have said their professional code of conduct has always obliged them to keep student disclosures confidential and that nothing has changed.



Protesters at the rally say this recommendation to keep information from parents is a threat to families.



"Why would the government suggest that students must be protected from their No. 1 key source of support?" Ng said.



Parents' rights speakers were frequently heckled by a small group of LGBTQ advocates. They broke out into chants of "students rights, students rights," to which protesters responded by yelling, "parents rights, parents rights."



St. Albert pastor Rony Roukema, with the Association for Reformed Political Action, said the government is forcing people to accept a fundamental change in their understanding of human sexuality.



He said he was praying for Premier Rachel Notley, and implored Christians to stand up to the government.



"You are being asked to love less. You are being asked to love God less. You're being asked to love your children less. Be strong and courageous."



jfrench@postmedia.com



Twitter.com/jantafrench