View source for Chamberlain v Surrey School District No 36

{{SCCInfoBox
  |case-name=Chamberlain v Surrey School District No 36
  |full-case-name=
  |heard-date=June 12, 2002
  |decided-date=December 20, 2002
  |citations=[2002] 4 S.C.R. 710, 2002 SCC 86
  |docket=28654
  |history=
  |ruling= 
  |ratio=  
  |SCC=2000-2002
  |Majority=McLachlin C.J.
  |JoinMajority=L'Heureux‑Dubé, Iacobucci, Major, Binnie and Arbour JJ.
  |Concurrence=LeBel J.
  |JoinConcurrence=
  |Dissent=Gonthier J.
  |JoinDissent=Bastarache J.
  |NotParticipating=
  |LawsApplied=
}}'''''Chamberlain v Surrey School District No 36''''', [2002] 4 S.C.R. 710, 2002 SCC 86, was a case in which the [[Supreme Court of Canada]] held that a local [[school board]] could not impose its religious values by refusing to permit the use of [[books]] that sought to promote tolerance of [[same-sex relationships]].

==Background==
In 1997, James Chamberlain, a [[primary school]] [[teacher]] in [[Surrey, British Columbia]], sought permission from [[School District 36 Surrey]] to use three books in his [[Kindergarten]] and [[Grade one]] classes. The books, ''[[Asha's Mums]]'', ''[[Belinda's Bouquet]]'' and ''[[One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dad, Blue Dads]]'', 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 [[Multiculturalism|diversity]] and [[Toleration|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]] 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]] 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: "[[Toleration|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]] over $1,200,000.

==External links==
*{{lexum-scc|2002|86}}
*[https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/supreme-court-says-b-c-school-board-wrong-to-ban-same-sex-books-1.331975 Supreme Court says B.C. school board wrong to ban same-sex books]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050429190329/http://www.egale.ca/index.asp?lang=E&menu=70&item=59 Book banning in Surrey, What happened?.]

[[Category:Supreme Court of Canada cases]]
[[Category:Canadian freedom of religion case law]]
[[Category:Canadian LGBTQ rights case law]]
[[Category:2002 in LGBTQ history]]
[[Category:2002 in Canadian case law]]
[[Category:Education in Surrey, British Columbia]]
[[Category:LGBTQ-related controversies in literature]]