"Let kids be kids," a demonstrator told Rebel News at a protest against SOGI 123 programming targeting children on Saturday in Ottawa.

Many of the protesters referenced SOGI 123, a program for schools described as addressing "sexual orientation and gender identity" among children. SOGI 123 was developed by the ARC Foundation, which describes itself as an organization committed to "a world where children and youth of all sexual orientations and gender identities live authentic lives."

The SOGI 123 program's architects frame it as an endeavour to promote "inclusive learning environments" with curriculum promoting "diversity and respect" and understanding of "2SLGBTQ+ community members."

Several of the demonstrators remarked on the use of puberty-blocking drugs and hormones to ostensibly treat "transgender" children. Others critiqued surgical mutilation of children marketed as "gender-affirming" surgeries by the government, subsidiary institutions, and others aligned with and invested in the narrative of "transgenderism".

Proponents of "gender identity" and "transgenderism" frequently deny human sexual dimorphism — the binary male-female sexual divide of humanity — while falsely framing human sex as existing on a spectrum.

"This demonstration is to protect kids and children," said a protester. She continued, "Children who haven't gone through puberty yet, they're not fully developed, so therefore, they're in no place to change [or] decide what kind of bodies they should have."

Another demonstrator noted the push by several public school boards to usurp parental authority over children. "Children belong to the parents," she said, "and we do not want indoctrination in the schools, teaching them strange ideologies."

"It's disrespect for parents [and] it's disrespect for voters," claimed another protester. "It's an agenda that we have never been consulted on, and they are introducing this in schools and communities. Our mayors and councils and local communities have lost power."

"I'm here for the children," stated another protester holding a sign with the message: "CHILDREN *CANNOT* CONSENT TO PUBERTY BLOCKERS, HORMONES, & SURGERIES".

The Parents' Bill of Rights Act mandates that educators and other school administrators inform parents when a child under 16 years of age changes their name or uses different pronouns to affirm their ‘gender identity.’https://t.co/PkIFdacd2g

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) October 20, 2023

She continued, "I think a child shouldn't know anything about sex [or] about what is consenting to be with another person. We should just let them grow and be whoever they want to be, and then when they adults, if they want to have a choice of liking the same sex or whatever, it's okay, but … putting that idea in their head to … make them like a different sex than nature made them, I don't agree with that."

Public schools are "sexualizing young kids," another protest participant declared. "This is grooming," he added. "We're influencing young kids with what I would have called pornography when I was a kid."