On Thursday, April 28, 2011, as part of our continuing work around Gay Straight Alliances in Catholic Schools, Queer Ontario will be hosting a Community Strategy Meeting. At this meeting, we will discuss how we as a community wish to respond to the banning of GSAs and what we can do collectively to move forward on getting these youth the GSAs they are requesting.

GSA Community Strategy Meeting
Thursday, April 28, 2011
The 519 (519 Church St. – Room 204)
6-8 PM

Thank you for your continued support on this issue and we look forward to seeing you there!

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Thanks to everyone who came out last night to “Sex Ed, GSAs and Religion in Publicly Funded Schools – an educational forum”! Over 100 people showed up, engaged, contemplated and discussed! Thanks to our sponsors, supporters and fantastic panelists! Lastly, thanks to you, the in house audience, as well as those following online for joining us and for supporting LGBTQ youth!

Moving forward, there were two important announcements made last night that we want to raise again here.

On Thursday, April 28^th, Queer Ontario will be hosting a Community Strategy Meeting to discuss what we can do to support students in their quest to form Gay Straight Alliances. Come on down and join us from 6-8 PM at the 519 (519 Church St.) as we work together to ensure that these students rights to form a GSA are restored.

Secondly, we are pleased to announce the creation of the “Queer Ontario GSA Defense Fund”! This fund will be used to empower students in their struggles to get GSAs in their schools and is already growing thanks to the generous collective donations exceeding $300 took in at the Forum last night. If you’d like to donate to the fund, you can send a cheque to Queer Ontario, PO Box 822, Station A, Toronto, Ontario, M5W 1G3 noting in the memo that the funds are for the “QO GSA Defense Fund” or, you can donate online through PayPal – again, please make sure to note the donation is for the “QO Defense Fund” in the “Contact Details” section.

Thank you for your continued support and work around these issues and see you on the 28^th!

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Here’s your digest of recent news coverage on McGuinty’s lack of commitment to enforce Program / Policy Memorandum (PPM) 145:

1. “Banning gay-straight alliances goes against equity grain, McGuinty warns.”
The Globe and Mail

2. “Gay-straight groups not mandatory, education ministry says”
The Toronto Star

3. “McGuinty dodges GSA question, says Catholic schools create alternatives”
Xtra!

Indeed: as mentioned in the Xtra! piece, we will be hosting an exciting Education Forum on Sex-Ed, GSAs, and Religion in Publicly Funded Schools on April 13th — the International Day of Pink. Further details will be released in the near future as they become available. But for now: save the date and mark your calendars!