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Courtesy of Sarah Manns, Parliamentary Assistant to MP Randall Garrison, the federal NDP’s LGBT critic:

There are many votes tonight. The votes start at 8:30pm but there are about 10 before C-279 so i am suggesting that anyone who wants to come and watch meet in front of the centre block stairs at 8:30pm and we can go through security and head upstairs together. Be prepared to sit and wait for a fairly long time, as it could be after 10pm before C-279 gets voted on. Please note that security is similar to aiport secuirity; no pocket knives, no nail scissors, buttons, etc. The less you bring with you the better. If you have any questions please get in touch.

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Sarah can be reached at 613-996-2625.
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More
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Xtra! reports that Garrison has caved in to Conservatve pressure and has agreed to drop ‘gender expression’ from the Bill, pushing only ‘gender identity’ forward. Xtra!’s story can be found here: http://www.xtra.ca/public/National/MPs_to_vote_on_federal_trans_rights_bill-12099.aspx
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For more information on the Bill, visit the Parliamentary website, here:
http://parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&DocId=5127590&File=9
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Toronto, ON June 5, 2012 — Queer Ontario is pleased that Bill 13, the Accepting Schools Act, passed third reading today with explicit amendments to protect the rights and safety of students in all publicly funded schools. This includes the right for students to establish LGBTQ support groups in publicly-funded Catholic Schools, with names that describe and affirm LGBTQ identities.
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“We feel very strongly that LGBTQ-identified youth, who we know are heavily targeted for bullying, should receive the protections and supports they require regardless of what school board they are enrolled in,” says Nick Mulé, chairperson of Queer Ontario. “We expect the province’s Catholic School Boards to abide by this new legislation or reconsider accepting public funds.”
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We thank the Ontario NDP and especially Rosario Marchese, Peter Tabuns and Cheri DiNovo, for their support of LGBTQ youth during this needless struggle.
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We appreciate the support of Liberal MPP Laurel Broten, the Minister of Education, who up until May 25, was abdicating her duty to support all youth in Ontario schools. We also appreciate Premier McGuinty’s change of position on May 29, where he assured the public that Catholic School Boards will need to abide by Bill 13 and support students who wish to form LGBTQ-focused student groups. This is clearly a drastic change from his position since the beginning of this struggle in January of 2011.
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Most importantly, we want to thank Leanne Iskander, Christopher Mckerracher, and all the other students implicated in this fight, for their resistance and resilience over the past two years. This change would not have been possible without them.
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Our Bill 13 Fact Sheet [attached] gives our account of Bill 13, and calls for further actions to support youth, teachers, and staff in Ontario Schools.
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For interviews or more information please contact info@queerontario.org.
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Queer Ontario’s Statement on the Passage of Bill 13

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Queer Ontario’s Fact Sheet on Bill 13

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We have just gotten word that the current version of Ontario’s Anti-Bullying Bill will head to third reading today (Monday, June 4, 2012) at approximately 1:30 pm. The Bill will head to a final vote tomorrow (Tuesday, June 5th), likely after Question Period.
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Xtra’s account, with a copy of the final version of the Bill, can be found here: http://www.xtra.ca/public/National/Final_debate_for_Ontario_antibullying_bill_June_4-12081.aspx
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You can view the debates live on the Queen’s Park webcast, here: http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/go2.jsp?Page=/webcast/webcast_main&locale=en&menuItem=dandp_webcast
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