At Saturday’s huge Calgary city hall rally, I saw gay and transgender kids, their parents and friends, several cute dogs, forests of makeshift signs, and some tough dudes who looked like they’d just loped out of a Longview bar, but carried rainbow flags.

The vast crowd packed the vast concrete space outside the entry to city hall, along the whole south-north length of the building.

These are the folks Premier Danielle Smith says she’s lovingly helping with her new rules on gender transition, sex education and transgender athletes in sport.

Universally, they don’t think she’s helping. They believe she is their enemy. They find her new rules both insulting and menacing.

Parents I spoke to, who have seen their children’s pain while coming out or going through gender transition, are furious at how the provincial government has put their offspring in the spotlight yet again.

“Parents don’t need protection, kids do,” said one sign, summing up the feeling that Smith is catering to a minority of parents who think teachers and schools are actively corrupting their children.

One teacher carried a sign saying kids are welcome to talk to her about anything in complete privacy and safety.

But under Smith’s new rules,........

© Calgary Herald