Surrey councillor Laurie Guerra resigns from AutismBC following anti-SOGI backlash

SURREY (NEWS 1130) – Surrey City Councillor Laurie Guerra has resigned from her position as a director of AutismBC. This follows backlash after NEWS 1130 exposed she attended an anti-SOGI victory party.

Guerra and City Councillor Steven Pettigrew attended and spoke at the event, after which, a group representing more than 1,400 parents of children with disabilities asked for Guerra to be removed from the board of directors.

RELATED: Langara College says Surrey Councillor who attended anti-SOGI meeting hasn’t taught since 2016

The group, BCEdAccess, expressed concerned about having people in the organization that is meant to help vulnerable people be involved in anti-SOGI groups.

RELATED: Parents group demands anti-SOGI AutismBC director, Surrey councillor, step down

“Over the last few days, some concerns and negative perspectives about AutismBC have been expressed by our members, by others in the autism community, and in social media,” read a statement from AutismBC president Gary Robins. “While the basis of these issues is unfounded, we are deeply concerned about the undue stress this situation has caused.”

Full statement from AutismBC:

However, AutismBC released a second statement a few hours later clarifying what the organization meant by saying that the issues were “unfounded.”

“The concerns raised against AutismBC are unfounded, as our values are and have always been founded on inclusivity for all people. We are deeply concerned about the undue stress this situation has caused and want to reiterate again the personal views of one director does not reflect the views of the board or the organization,” the organization added to its original statement.

RELATED: Surrey councillors attend secret anti-SOGI victory party

“It’s a day for celebrating all the strong voices out there,” said Mirella Russell, who started the petition. “I’m kind of emotional about this because this is so important to us and we take this quite seriously. And you know, it’s a struggle every day.”

Russell said she was not expecting the petition to go so far, noting it collected more than 1,300 signatures.

“I did not expect for so many people to speak up,” she added.

WATCH: Surrey councillors attend anti-sogi meeting

 

“I am so relieved because that means that we live in a society where we stand together and we promote kindness and love and acceptance and inclusion, and that makes me feel good,” Russell added.

A previous statement from AutismBC had said Guerra’s views did not necessarily reflect the views of the organization.

But activist and autistic woman Margaux Wosk isn’t happy with how AutismBC handled the issue.

“There’s no clarification, there’s no apology, really nobody is taking responsibility for the actions that she took,” she said. “Her resignation was a way of her to rid herself of any responsibilities to take accountability or action, yes it needed to be done, but there’s been nobody that has even addressed the concern.”

Wosk said she was happy to see so many people sign the petition and stand together.

-With files from Lasia Kretzel and Lauren Boothby