January 23, 2011

Halton Catholic District School Board
Catholic Education Centre
802 Drury Lane
Burlington, Ontario
L7R 2Y2

To whom it may concern,

I am writing to you today to formally request that Queer Ontario be consulted regarding your upcoming Equity and Inclusion Policy revisions.

At your January 18, 2011 meeting, while the rescinding of your policy banning Gay Straight Alliances (GSA) was a welcoming sign, it became very clear that there is still a lot of work to be done to ensure that lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) youth attending schools in the Halton Catholic District School Board have access to the support and resources only a GSA can provide. Being that the work a GSA performs is so encompassing and specific – something that is lost in translation when taken up by a general equity group – we look forward to working with your Board to ensure that you support your students in their efforts to start GSAs within your Board and that LGBTQ issues and identities are properly reflected in your policy.

We look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

Casey Oraa
Chair, Political Action Committee
Queer Ontario

Cc:
Leona Dombrowsky, Minister, Education
Kevin Flynn, MPP, Oakville
Joyce Savoline, MPP, Burlington
Ted Chudleigh, MPP, Halton
Ted Arnott, MPP, Wellington-Halton Hills
Tara Elliott, Director of Education, Egale Canada
Ontario Education Services Corporation (OESC)
Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC)

♦