2026 DEHR Conference

This presentation offers an examination of the progressive erosion of robust educational spaces and human rights within the Alberta education system. Drawing on a recent research study, I articulate our current reality and its real costs on staff and students. How do we reclaim and strengthen our commitment to equity and to each other in these times?

The Situation Room is a space for educators to come together to discuss the impact that ongoing legislation (Bills 27 and 29) is having on our classrooms, students, and school communities. Facilitated by ARC Foundation SOGI 123 staff Jenna and Alissa, DEHR attendees can expect to have open conversations centered around challenges and successes from this school year.

This listening circle offers a 2SLGBTQIA+ affirming space for adults and allies to gather. We share our experiences while building community through both triumphs and challenges. Participation is open and voluntary, no explanations are required. Confidentiality is respected, no attendance is taken, and stories stay in the room while the learning moves forward, even outside of the space we build together.

This workshop is designed for education professionals in rural environments. Join us for a conversation based exploration of rural contexts for allyship, and to develop actionable strategies to support your colleagues outside the urban milieu who identify as 2SLGBTQ+. This learning is grounded in current legislative realities and approached from a strengths based perspective rooted in celebration.

In this deeply relational session, participants are invited to sit in circle, listen with humility and receive the teachings of Elder Laurie McDonald from Enoch Cree Nation. Through story, reflection and lived experience, Elder Laurie will share aspects of his residential school journey, his path of healing, and his proud work supporting Two-Spirit and 2SLGBTQIA+ communities.
This session is grounded in the understanding that story is not simply something we hear; it is something we are called to witness, honour and carry with care. Elder Laurie’s sharing will offer participants an opportunity to deepen their understanding of the intersections between Indigenous identity, residential school experience, healing, gender, sexuality, belonging and human rights.
Rather than a traditional presentation, this gathering will take the form of a listening circle: a respectful space for presence, learning, truth-telling and reflection. Participants will be invited to slow down, listen deeply and consider how educators, allies and leaders can create schools and communities where Two-Spirit and 2SLGBTQIA+ Indigenous people are affirmed, protected and celebrated.

Given the current political and social dynamics in Alberta schools, having a unified staff is crucial to building safer and more inclusive school environments. Through roleplaying scenarios, participants will have the opportunity to discuss educator push back and how to leverage support for each other in greater 2SLGBTQ+ allyship. Whether you're comfortable speaking up, sharing your views, or encouraging others to voice their thoughts, this session will focus on relationship building, real life experiences, and skills you can bring directly into your staffroom.

Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and others of diverse gender and sexualities (2SLGBTQIA+) continue to face discrimination in school settings, especially in Catholic schools. Special intolerance toward gender and sexual minority groups in Catholic schools could be due to the church’s decree to “love the sinner, hate the sin,” which is untenable for many Catholic students and teachers. As they struggle with how to respond to 2SLGBTQIA+ people in their schools, Catholic education leaders tend to abandon the tradition of Catholic teaching involving justice for the weakest and turn instead for guidance to the formidable canonical law on the topic of homosexuality and gender identity. In so doing, they also disregard secular human rights legislation in their jurisdictions. How can teachers, students, and policymakers work together to eliminate oppression of gender and sexual minority groups?

This listening circle offers a 2SLGBTQIA+ affirming space for adults and allies to gather. We share our experiences while building community through both triumphs and challenges. Participation is open and voluntary, no explanations are required. Confidentiality is respected, no attendance is taken, and stories stay in the room while the learning moves forward, even outside of the space we build together.

2SLGBTQIA+ teachers often shoulder invisible labour in schools—navigating in/visibility, managing microaggressions, and sustaining inclusion work—labour that is intensified in hostile policy landscapes. This workshop explores the idea of heteroprofessionalism and how expectations of gender coherence and heterosexuality have become sedimented within norms of teacher professionalism, creating invisible labour for 2SLGBTQIA+ teachers. Participants will consider how to move beyond powerlessness in the face of political hostility toward collective care and institutional forms of support for 2SLGBTQIA+ teachers.

In this session, participants will discuss the ways in which recent changes in the political and social landscape of Alberta have impacted and changed the mental health of Two-spirit, trans, and gender-diverse youth, specifically examining how these realities may be showing up within the classroom. Together we will explore ways to support youth who may be navigating these challenges, as well as the ways in which Skipping Stone Foundation is stepping through exploration of the services we provide to help community members not just survive but thrive.

An exploration of the many approaches to allyship from difficult to navigate environments to schools filled with rainbows. It isn't always about the symbols on the walls; it's about the professional in the room.

This workshop aims to develop an appreciation of the diverse histories of gender and sexuality on Turtle Island (what is now known as North America) pre-colonization, helps to recognize the effects of colonization on Indigenous gender and sexual diversity historically and currently, and provides hopeful paths towards the acceptance, support, and celebration of queer Indigenous folks. In this workshop, we will explore strategies that foster decolonial allyship practices in the spaces we occupy, including the workplace and interpersonally.

As we conclude, I invite us to return to what sustains this work during the most challenging of times: community. Through examining where we have been, and where we are today, we can imagine what becomes possible when we choose to move forward together. At a time when many educators and 2SLGBTQIA+ communities are feeling the weight of isolation, uncertainty, and harm, we must center a simple but urgent truth; we cannot do this work alone. Learning from our lived experiences teaches us how connections across different contexts and intersectional identities strengthens our collective opportunity to create change.
The ATA GSA is trailblazing what is possible when people lean into connectedness and create a web of community. What began as a desire for support has grown into a collective force within Alberta. Together, we have demonstrated how the small yet intentional acts of connection can lead to meaningful, lasting change. Creating spaces of belonging, celebration, and care is not separate from the work, but essential to its foundation. When we build strong, empowered communities, we create inviting environments where resistance is sustained, and hope can take root.
This is a call to hold tightly onto one another. To recognize that allyship is active and necessary. To testify that our words, our presence, and our actions matter. To stand in knowing that we all have a role to play in shaping a safer and more inclusive profession. Together, we will consider what it means to stand on the right side of history - not as individuals working alone, but as a community that is committed to showing up for one another.

The learning doesn’t have to end when the day wraps up.

Come gather with colleagues, friends, and community members for a casual evening at EVO (11508 Jasper Avenue) for a chance to relax, connect, and continue conversations in a fun, welcoming atmosphere.

Drop in for a quick visit or settle in for the evening. Food and drinks will be available for individual purchase, and ATAGSA members will be there to host and welcome guests.

All ages welcome until 8:00 PM. After 8:00 PM, the venue becomes 18+.

Please note: As this is not an official DEHR conference event, coverage for accommodation and sustenance for the evening of June 5 will not be provided.