Category: Human Rights

The saga of the ban on Gay-Straight Alliances in this province’s Catholic schools continues. However, there is much cause to be optimistic.

This past November, the McGuinty government introduced Bill 13, also known as the “Accepting Schools Act.” Among the provisions in the bill is the following:

Every board shall support pupils who want to establish and lead,

(a)  activities or organizations that promote gender equity;

(b)  activities or organizations that promote anti-racism;

(c)  activities or organizations that promote the awareness and understanding of, and respect for, people with disabilities; or

(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.

In other words, if this passes, Catholic boards would no longer be able to block support groups for queer students. If you want a reminder as to why Catholic representatives oppose these support groups to begin with, Teresa Pierre, director of Ontario Catholic Parent Advocates, says it best:

[Pierre] said her group believes that Dalton McGuinty, the Premier of Ontario, wants to force Catholic schools to allow groups like gay-straight alliances that would end up promoting homosexuality as acceptable, something that goes against official Church teaching.

Bill 13 passed second reading in December and is awaiting third reading. I’m pleased at the wording of this legislation and at the rapid evolution of the party behind it. How far the Liberal Party of Ontario has come in only a year.

As noted earlier, the bill does face opposition. The Ottawa Sun had an op-ed piece on the matter, calling the legislation “gay rights being forced on religious schools.” Another writer, this time for the National Post, stated that in lifting the ban on the support groups would constitute a “violation of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.” These writers are not alone in their views.

The opponents are framing this as a question of rights, but I suspect that it’s just the most convenient explanation to justify underlying prejudice. The rights argument itself is a shaky one, as the right being claimed here is the right to marginalize children because they’re born different. I believe that such frivolous invocation of infringement of religious liberties erodes the public’s perception of real violations of religious freedoms that do take place.

In other news, the Ontario Catholic Schools Trustees Association released their guidelines for the diversity groups they wish to have queer students join instead of the banned GSA. According to those very guidelines, however, any discussion on gender identity would be “inappropriate” to discuss in the forums and gay students would be viewed as “intrinsically disordered.” Not exactly what I’d consider support, and a reminder of why this provincial legislation is necessary.

Update February 7^th 2012: I’m not sure what to make of the interview with Education Minister Laurel Broten on TVO’s The Agenda yesterday. In the last minutes of the show, its host, Steve Paikin, asked the education minister some questions about GSAs and the “diversity groups” I derided above.

Her responses made me question whether the government would in fact end the ban, or whether they would allow it to continue as long as these false support groups were present.

The picture of the television screen above was taken from my hotel room in Toronto a few weeks ago. The caption read “Forcing Liberal Agenda on Kids” and was referring to the new provisions in the Ontario curriculum that would make schools more inclusive for queer students. Naturally, the accompanying imagery wasn’t of children, but of a cross-dresser, and the guest invited on the show was homophobic.

The above image, meanwhile, is a full-page advertisement that ran across the country in the National Post last month. It also speaks out against the new plans to make schools more welcoming. The Post would later apologize on the basis of the manipulative nature of the advertisement. The Toronto Sun, perhaps in reaction to this apology, decided to then run the advertisement themselves. The individual behind the ad campaign was Charles McVety, who had earlier asserted “that homosexuals prey on children.”

During this past fall election in Ontario, the Progressive Conservatives, the official opposition party in this province, also took aim at the plans for more inclusive schools. Like the other ads, it was deeply misleading. Some of the quotes were fabrications not found in the material they cited. This is the party that came very close to being in charge of education in this province.

In August, the Ottawa-Carleton School Board (OCSB) decided to march in Pride to show solidarity with its students. This was too much for the editors at the Ottawa Sun, which ran the news as a page 2 piece along with the above image to maximize impact. As expected, most of their readers were quite incensed and the paper was flooded with homophobic comments.

The reality was of course quite a joyful matter, with teachers and staff showing their support for students. I took the photo above of them at Pride. Unfortunately, it isn’t just conservative media outlets and religious lobbies that have pushed against all forms of support for queer students. Some of the opposition has come from the school environment as well.

One in three students in this province are in a school where Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) are banned. While much of the blame for this ban on support groups deservedly is directed towards the religious arm of this province’s education system, parents too bear some of the responsibility. As it was described of parents in a meeting at the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) debating the non-discrimination policies introduced by the Ontario government:

Over the course of the evening, the TCDSB heard claims that GSAs “indoctrinate” and “confuse” youth by “normalizing” a “dangerous lifestyle.” Many others demanded that any reference to “sexual orientation” be removed from the document. The sense is that if students start talking about their identity, they will begin having sex.

The crowd was distinctly divided by age. Most of those who stood to speak were adults who argued that allowing a GSA would open the door to “sexual promiscuity and disease.”

One parent quoted the Catholic Catechism that says gays are “objectively disordered.”

“There is nothing wrong with telling our kids [being gay] is a dangerous lifestyle,” said another parent, who refused to give her name.

Whereas none of the aforementioned examples of prejudice would be deemed acceptable were it racist or antisemitic in nature, it is still far too often categorized as valid criticism on matters of young students and their orientation or gender identity.

So to simply blame bullies and educators for the difficulties of students over their orientation or gender identity ignores a significant part of the problem. Schools do not operate in a void. There are a number of organizations and individuals that are successful in preventing initiatives to make schools a healthy environment for queer students. We must come to challenge these entities as we do the bullies.

The new school year has come, and contrary to my hopes, LGBT students in Catholic schools are still banned from forming Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) clubs.

However, to satisfy the provincial government, these schools are to roll out their own groups using a framework devised by the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association which is to manage the issue with a “Catholic perspective.” This is the same perspective that dictates that being gay is “intrinsically disordered and contrary to natural law.”

I wrote about the absurdity of such a solution in a previous blog entry:

Gay-Straight Alliances are student run clubs that provide support for students affected by LGBT issues and their allies.  The good they’ve done in making schools safer for students have been espoused over and over by the Ministry of Education.

Meanwhile, the framework clubs came to be out of an opposition to the genuine support offered by GSAs. Not exactly a promising start. Furthermore, its mandate is being worked out by the same institution whose leadership in Ontario dictates that gay students must be viewed as intrinsically disordered. The same institution that continues to marginalize queer students, sometimes to absurd lengths.

Imagine if an organization who believed that racial minorities were “intrinsically disordered” had decided to come up with their own version of an anti-racism club, as a means to prevent real anti-racism clubs from taking hold. I think it’s quite evident how students would not likely be served with such alternatives.

This is a strategy of co-opting a support group as to prevent the help it would provide from reaching students. These doppelganger clubs satisfy both the requirements of the provincial government and the views of the Catholic boards, which continues its opposition to the acceptance of sexual diversity. As such, it is unlikely that we’ll see any further movement from these two organizations on the matter.

The only ones left behind in this deal are the very ones this was supposed to be about: queer students seeking genuine support in a homophobic system.

Following up on my last post, I sent this message to my MPP asking for clarification on his statements:

Thank you very much for your reply.

I did hear the comments made on behalf of the Premier. It was not clear to me, however, if this meant that students would no longer be forbidden from starting Gay-Straight Alliance clubs come September. Will that in fact be the case?

– Julien

Yesterday, I received a response back from his assistant:

Hi Julien,

My apologies for the delay in response. I’d like to confirm that students can now start Gay-Straight Alliances in all schools throughout the province.

[Name Removed]
Senior Constituency Assistant
Office of Yasir Naqvi MPP, Ottawa Centre

If this is true, this is big news. It would be a departure from Mr. Naqvi’s previous statements, which mirrored the party line. It would be a great victory for LGBT youth in Ontario Catholic schools.

I forwarded the emails to Xtra!, who got back to me saying they’d follow up. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. Is this in fact true? Did the assistant misspeak? I’ll let you know as soon as I find out.

Update August 25th, 2011: I was able to talk to Mr. Naqvi in person at a town hall meeting that he held. Unfortunately, the assistant did in fact misspeak. The Catholic boards would continue the ban on any club with the word “gay”, though Mr. Naqvi assured me that students could rename the club and the content would not be censored by the schools. I have reason to believe that this won’t be the case, but time will tell.

A little over three months ago, I sent a letter to my local MPP discussing the ban on Gay-Straight Alliances in Ontario Catholic schools and imploring action. His name is Yasir Naqvi, and he also happens to be the Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Education. Yesterday, his reply arrived.

Dear Mr. McArdle,

Thank you for your emails regarding the Catholic school system in Ontario. I appreciate the time you have taken to write and share your concerns with me, and I would like to apologize for the delay in my response. Every student in Ontario’s publicly funded schools is entitled to respect, equity, and an education free from discrimination and harassment. Students do better in a respectful and inclusive environment, and those in our publicly funded schools are fortunate to benefit from an environment where kids from all ages, races, and backgrounds share a classroom. Their differences help to make our province’s schools among the very best in the world.

Last fall, our government required Ontario school boards to implement one of the most progressive inclusive education policies in North America. Every school board now must have their own Equity Policy, including Catholic and Francophone boards. Our Equity and Inclusive Education Policy is clear; discrimination based on race, gender, age, disability, or sexual orientation are unacceptable, and boards and schools all have a role to play in helping to build more inclusive schools. We take matters like this very seriously: we have also passed legislation to make reporting violent incidents mandatory, and added “bullying” to the Safe Schools Act. We are focused on ensuring that all students have the supports in our schools through student-led forums to feel welcome, safe and free from discrimination and harassment.

I know that student support groups for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) students have been controversial within some Ontarian schools. In September, 2010 our government presented Gay Straight Alliances as an option for boards to build more inclusive, respectful schools, but it has been left to school boards to decide whether or not to implement them. However, earlier this month the Premier stated that “…effective this September, high school students who want their school to have a student support group for LGBT students will have one. This is not a matter of choice for school boards or principals. If students want it, they will have it.” I am very proud of our government’s firm stance on this issue. We must all ensure that every Ontarian student feels welcome, safe and supported in an environment free from discrimination and harassment. Gender-based and homophobic bullying is unacceptable in all schools.

Once again, thank you for writing. Please do not hesitate to contact me at my Community Office at any time to share your thoughts and concerns. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Yasir Naqvi, MPP
Ottawa Centre

I thanked him for the reply, and asked him if this meant that students would no longer be forbidden from starting Gay-Straight Alliances.

That clarification is needed. The Catholic schools are currently working on a framework for their own version of the clubs, and the skeptic in me believes that the McGuinty government would be content to keep the ban in place and if it meant the introduction of these new clubs. I have reasons to suspect this will be the case given the exchange quoted below:

Does McGuinty’s announcement mean, then, that there will be GSAs that are called GSAs and supported by Catholic school administrators next year? “Premier McGuinty did not use the words GSAs,” Murray wrote in a text message to Xtra. “He said ‘support groups for LGBT youth.”

Ignoring the acceptance of intolerance with the persistence of the ban, the problem with this is that there is a world of difference between a GSA and what I’ll call the “framework clubs.”

Gay-Straight Alliances are student run clubs that provide support for students affected by LGBT issues and their allies.  The good they’ve done in making schools safer for students have been espoused over and over by the Ministry of Education.

Meanwhile, the framework clubs came to be out of an opposition to the genuine support offered by GSAs. Not exactly a promising start. Furthermore, its mandate is being worked out by the same institution whose leadership in Ontario dictates that gay students must be viewed as intrinsically disordered. The same institution that continues to marginalize queer students, sometimes to absurd lengths.

Imagine if an organization who believed that racial minorities were “intrinsically disordered” had decided to come up with their own version of an anti-racism club, as a means to prevent real anti-racism clubs from taking hold. I think it’s quite evident how students would not likely be served with such alternatives.

Update: Naqvi’s comments for this article gives further credence to the scenario I suggest. I’ll be the first to celebrate should I turn out to be wrong.

Update: Xtra! has an interesting article on the situation.