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The stated goal is “to promote the dignity and equality of those whose gender identity and/or gender expression does not conform to traditional social norms,” the TDSB explained, but critics are divided on the anticipated impact.

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On the issue of washrooms, the guidelines note that all students have the right to use a bathroom that “best corresponds to the student’s gender identity, regardless of the student’s sex assigned at birth.” Requiring a student to “prove” their gender through a doctor’s letter or identity documents is unacceptable, the board says.

Further, “students who wish to use pronouns other than the masculine or the feminine (such as ‘zhe’ and ‘hir’) need to be accommodated equally,” the guidelines note.

That’s where the board goes too far, said Doretta Wilson, executive director of the provincial education policy think tank Society for Quality Education.

“This has gone beyond ridiculous… We are men and women, whether or not we are transgendered,” Ms. Wilson said. “We identify somehow with one sex or another; we’re not neutered.”

The guidelines come a week after the TDSB drew criticism over its posters featuring a young male cross-dresser — part of the school board’s campaign against gender-based violence — and for linking to a website that explained how to use vegetables in sexual play. The rule allowing pronouns such as “zhe” and “hir” is yet another example of the board taking political correctness to the extreme, Ms. Wilson said.