''Chamberlain v Surrey School District No 36'',

002 002, 0O2, O02, OO2, or 002 may refer to: Fiction *002, fictional British 00 Agent *''002 Operazione Luna'', *1965 Italian film *Zero Two, a ''Darling in the Franxx'' character Airports *0O2, Baker Airport *O02, Nervino Airport Astronomy *1996 ...

4 S.C.R. 710, 2002 SCC 86, was a case in which the Supreme Court of Canada held that a local

school board A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...

could not impose its religious values by refusing to permit the use of books that sought to promote tolerance of

same-sex relationships A same-sex relationship is a romantic or sexual relationship between people of the same sex. ''Same-sex marriage'' refers to the institutionalized recognition of such relationships in the form of a marriage; civil unions may exist in countries ...

Background

In 1997, James Chamberlain, a

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

in Surrey, British Columbia, sought permission from

School District 36 Surrey School District 36 Surrey operates schools in Surrey, White Rock, and Barnston Island, British Columbia. It is the largest school district in British Columbia with 71,838 students during the 2016/2017 school year. District 36 includes 101 elem ...

to use three books in his

Kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th ce ...

and

Grade one Grade 1 may refer to: *First grade, the first school year of primary education. *A Grade 1 Graded stakes race horse race * ''Grade One'' (TV series), a 2014 Chinese TV variety show *Grade 1 listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed b ...

classes. The books, ''

Asha's Mums ''Asha's Mums'' is a children's book written in 1990 by Michele Paulse and Rosamund Elwin and illustrated by Dawn Lee focusing on the topic of same-sex parents.Esposito, Jennifer. “We’re Here, We’re Queer, But We’re Just Like Heterosexuals ...

'', '' Belinda's Bouquet'' and ''

One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dad, Blue Dads ''One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dad, Blue Dads'' is a children's book written by Johnny Valentine and Melody Sarecky.Johnny Valentine and Melody Sarecky ''One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dad, Blue Dads'' (1st edition: Alyson Books, 1994 1-55583-253-9) The int ...

'', each presented families where both parents were of the same sex. Chamberlain asserted that the books were necessary to reflect the realities of today's families and to teach his pupils about

diversity Diversity, diversify, or diverse may refer to: Business *Diversity (business), the inclusion of people of different identities (ethnicity, gender, age) in the workforce *Diversity marketing, marketing communication targeting diverse customers * ...

and tolerance. A 4–2 majority of the board voted to deny the request.

Opinion of the Court

A legal battle to overturn the decision to ban the three books went all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, where the school board's decision at the

British Columbia Court of Appeal The British Columbia Court of Appeal (BCCA) is the highest appellate court in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It was established in 1910 following the 1907 Court of Appeal Act. The BCCA hears appeals from the Supreme Court of Britis ...

was overturned in favour of the original lower court judgment. The judgment cited the need for families headed by same-sex couples to be respected. Chief Justice

Beverley McLachlin Beverley Marian McLachlin (born September 7, 1943) is a Canadian jurist and author who served as the 17th chief justice of Canada from 2000 to 2017. She is the longest-serving chief justice in Canadian history and the first woman to hold the p ...

dismissed the board's concerns that children would be confused or misled by classroom information about same-sex parents. She pointed out that the children of same-sex parents are rubbing shoulders with children from more traditional families and wrote: " Tolerance is always age-appropriate, children cannot learn unless they are exposed to views that differ from those they are taught at home." The legal fees ended up costing Surrey

taxpayers A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or ...

over $1,200,000.

External links

*{{lexum-scc, 2002, 86
Supreme Court says B.C. school board wrong to ban same-sex booksBook banning in Surrey, What happened?.
Supreme Court of Canada cases Canadian freedom of religion case law Canadian LGBT rights case law 2002 in LGBT history 2002 in Canadian case law Education in Surrey, British Columbia