Photo: Contributed

These flyers are being distributed online alerting would-be attendees to a pair of protests taking place on Wednesday morning.

A Kamloops school is asking its students to stay inside on Wednesday when anti-SOGI protesters are slated to march from the courthouse to the school district office.

Duelling protests are planned for Wednesday morning. An event called the #1 Million March 4 Children is slated to get underway at 9 a.m. outside the Kamloops Law Courts, marching to the School District 73 office at 11 a.m.

Counter-protesters are also planning to attend, similarly meeting at 9 a.m. outside the courthouse, 455 Columbia St.

The protesters’ march will likely take them past a couple of schools — Lloyd George elementary, as well as Kamloops School of the Arts and South Kamloops secondary, which are across the street from the SD73 administration building.

KSA principal Blair Lloyd sent a letter to parents Sunday via email advising them of steps the school is taking due to the planned march.

“I am writing to let you know that we will be asking students to stay inside at break and lunch or to avoid being in front of Ninth Avenue and Munro Street,” Lloyd said in the email.

“We want to ensure our students are safe and do not engage with these protesters. Police are aware of this protest and should any protesters interfere with the running of our school, I will be calling the RCMP to assist in removing the group.”

Lloyd described the protesters as being opposed to SOGI guidelines, which preach inclusion on issues of sexual orientation and gender identity.

“At this time, I want to reiterate that we accept all students and staff members to be their true selves, including those who identify as LGBTQ2S+ and we will not tolerate and hateful messages toward students or staff,” he said in the letter.

Castanet Kamloops has attempted to contact organizers of the protest and the counter-protest, but no one has so far been willing to speak on the record.

The #1 Million March 4 Children is one of a series of marches slated to take place Wednesday in cities across Canada.