Thousands of people gathered in cities across Canada on Wednesday for competing protests, yelling and chanting at each other about the way schools teach sexuality and gender identity and how teachers refer to transgender youth.

Separated by lines of police officers, the protests and counter-protests are linked to school policies, including in New Brunswick that require young people to get parental consent before teachers can use their preferred first names and pronouns.

Hanafi, a father of two young boys, said he attended the protest in downtown Montreal because he is worried about his children being exposed to ideas of gender change at a young age. But the rallies were met with counter-protesters who said those policies are a violation of children’s rights and that transgender youth should not be outed to their parents by teachers.