Category: Life

Before I move on from the issue of gay-straight alliances, I’d like to address one misconception: that this was about a name. As if to suggest that had these support groups been called something else, the Catholic school boards wouldn’t have banned them.

This is one of the greatest untruths of this debacle. The objection was always with the notion that these clubs accepted queer youth as normal. The idea that it was about a name was merely the latest politically acceptable formulation of a much less palatable reality.

As the Ontario Catholic School Trustees Association said in a leaked memo:

From the outset, the concern [with gay-straight alliances] has been about the content more so than the name.

Don’t forget that students were also denied their petitions to start a group when the name was something else, such as “rainbow clubs.” It didn’t matter what they called it, the schools wouldn’t have allowed them.

The problem that the Catholic leadership has with these clubs is that they spread the idea that these kids are fine as-is. This is contrary to their beliefs, which views sexual minorities as morally evil*. To suggest otherwise is to disagree with their teachings, which is why there was accusations that the Accepting Schools Act would violate religious rights.

Despite their actions, the Catholic leadership never saw themselves as marginalizing anyone. There was a disconnect between their talk of embracing inclusivity and their gestures to the contrary. This resulted in self-contradicting quotes such as the following from a superintendent at the Bruce-Grey District Catholic School Board:

“No, I wouldn’t say we ban them. We support student clubs that support inclusiveness, especially for students who might otherwise feel marginalized. But all our clubs must, however, adhere to the Catholic teachings and values,” says [superintendent of education for the Bruce-Grey Catholic District School Board Gerald Casey]. Could students at a Bruce Grey Catholic school start a GSA? “The answer would be no,” admits Casey.

When you reject the validity of a population, it becomes possible to foster notions of inclusiveness that exclude entire swaths of people. A consequence of prejudice is that you are blind to the bias which you are exercising. That’s why I was unsurpised to see the opponents of the Accepting Schools Act at committee express their sentiment that homophobia** was, unlike other forms of prejudice, illegitimate.

Nevertheless, the religious leaders are sensitive to the fact that their views resonate with fewer and fewer Ontarians. Placing the blame on the name was merely a tool to obfuscate the nature of their opposition as to increase their odds of success.

That the name argument even worked at all, much less as well as it did, does highlight the comfort this society has with discrimination against particular subgroups. There is no doubt in my mind that had the vitriol thrown about by the opponents been less carefully directed, they would have triggered uproar from the public.

*If being gay was morally evil, being trans* was unspeakable. The guidelines issued by the Ontario Catholic School Trustee’s Association forbid students from even broaching the topic of gender identity in their official diversity clubs.

**The discussion was mostly focused on sexual orientation, I suspect, because the majority of opponents were too ignorant to know of anything else. 

As of a few minutes ago, the Accepting Schools Act (Bill 13) is law.

Come September, Catholic schools will no longer be able to ban support groups for queer students. According to the Globe & Mail:

Bill 13 passed with 65 MPPs voting in favour and all 36 Progressive Conservative MPPs voting against it.

The PCs had explained their opposition by quoting a piece that appeared in the Toronto Star, accusing the bill of “support for prejudice against minority, religious and cultural groups.” The PCs then said it would “weaken democracy.” As I lamented the other day, this rhetoric is deeply mismatched with the contents of the bill. They also seem to forget that those students who are in these clubs are Catholics. To say that allowing them a safe space is an attack on their identity is somewhat suspect.

The Liberals’ Minister of Education, Laura Broten, affirmed that there was nothing anti-Christian about clubs like gay-straight alliances. She said that it was about doing what you can to keep your neighbour safe. She spoke of the students who testified in favour of support groups, and the threats of legal action by the adults who opposed them.

Another Liberal MPP, Liz Sandals, spoke of the vitriol directed towards LGBT students she witnessed during the hearings. She explained why the bill mentioned these kids at all:

What we did find with the Safe Schools Action Team was that, in many cases, if the kids wanted to deal with homophobic bullying, it was denied. … Then it was, “You can’t do that.” You could do everything else, but you couldn’t do that. We heard that over and over.

[GSAs are in the legislation] not because it’s the only thing we need to do, but because it’s the one thing where kids are consistently denied permission to deal with the issue of homophobic bullying. That’s how we got to where we got.

The bill’s passage is wonderful news. However, my hopes that this would be the last chapter in this saga were dashed by the contents of a leaked memo by the Ontario Catholic Schools Trustees Association:

The Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association – anticipating what it called “objectionable” new provincial anti-bullying legislation that is expected to pass Tuesday, requiring schools to allow GSAs – outlined a strategy in a memo to its members. This includes making GSAs a “subset” of broader anti-bullying clubs and ensuring that they adhere to the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, which asserts that homosexuality is “intrinsically disordered.”

Why can’t they just leave the students alone? We’ll see what happens in September, but I really hope I won’t have to revisit this issue.

Minister Broten will appear on TVO’s The Agenda tomorrow to discuss the legislation.

Bill 13 is going into final vote, and this has the Catholic leadership, religious groups, and the Sun incensed. It has mobilized protesters and grabbed the national headlines. It’s a fury the likes of which we hadn’t seen yet for this.

They say that this is a violation of religious freedoms, that they’ll sue the Ontario government for years to come, that this violates parental rights, that this is giving privileges to one group of people, that this is government meddling.

They are saying this because of this amended passage in Bill 13:

Every board shall support pupils who want to establish and lead activities and organizations that promote a safe and inclusive learning environment, the acceptance of and respect for others and the creation of a positive school climate, including,

…

(d)  activities or organizations that promote the awareness and understanding of, and respect for, people of all sexual orientations and gender identities, including organizations with the name gay-straight alliance or another name.

All this aggressive rhetoric because students will have a safe space to talk. The religious leaders are framing themselves as martyrs, which may work today, but is so deeply disconnected from reality that it will certainly be looked back upon with incredulity.

Their rights aren’t impinged because students are able to find solace in each other, but there’s no denying that the opponents are up in arms. The thought that these students would be seen as normal is unacceptable to them.

I don’t expect ignorance to disappear tomorrow. But that such views would still be so prevalent among school administrators and enabled by complacent staff members is deeply disappointing. I am equally dismayed that a major political party, the Progressive Conservatives, have embraced this bigotry with open arms.

History will not look back upon these players favourably. They all had a chance to do the right thing. Not only did they squander it, but they fought it every step of the way.

Update: I received a message from a teacher who raised a good point. I post it here with permission:

Hi Julien, I searched Bill 13 and found your recent blog. I am a Catholic secondary teacher and I want you to know that we are not all complacent. I agree with your eloquently written message and want you to know that many teachers are trying to stop the homophobia that is being displayed by some people higher up in our boards. Thanks!