We are very proud today to announce our speakers list for our upcoming educational forum! Joining us on the evening of April 13 will be the following individuals!
- Rosario Marchese, MPP, Education Critic, Ontario NDP
- Noa Mendelsohn Aviv, Canadian Civil Liberties Association
- Jaxson Khan and André Rebeiz, Ontario Student Trustees’ Association
- El-Farouk Khaki, Salaam
- Lyba Spring, Toronto Public Health
- j wallace, LGBTQ Parenting Network
- Pam Dogra, Elementary Teachers of Toronto LGBTQI Committee
- With Special Guests: St. Joes Gay-Straight Alliance
- And more!
So come on out to Jarvis Collegiate (495 Jarvis St.) on Wednesday, April 13 from 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM for what is sure to be an exciting and informative forum!
Facebook Event Page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=212041642139884
On April 13, 2011, to commemorate the International Day of Pink, Queer Ontario is hosting an educational public forum to discuss how we can ‘make it better’ for students in schools across Ontario. At this forum speakers will be discussing how an updated Sex Ed Curriculum as well as support organizations like Gay Straight Alliances are necessary for the betterment of the lives of LGBTQ students as well as the student body on the …whole.
Speakers List TBA soon!
On the International Day of Pink, you are encouraged to wear pink to show that you are against bullying, discrimination and homophobia in our schools and communities. Come on out and join us at Jarvis Collegiate Institute (located at 495 Jarvis Street) from 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM for what is sure to be an exciting and interesting dialogue. Post-speakers, there will be an open Q & A/discussion period.
See you there!
Facebook Event Page: Sex Ed, GSAs and Religion in Publicly Funded Schools – an Educational Forum
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Community Media Sponsor: Xtra Canada
Sponsors: Canadian Auto Workers’ (CAW/TCA),Ontario Secondary School Teacher’s Federation (OSSTF), Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), Toronto District School Board – Gender Based Violence Prevention (GBVP), Supporting Our Youth (SOY)
Supporters: LGBTQ Parenting Network, People For Education, York University Sexuality Studies Department, Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies
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On Monday, March 21st, Rosario Marchese, the Education Critic for the Ontario NDP, asked Premier Dalton McGuinty a question we have been asking of Leona Dombrowsky, the Minister of Education, for quite some time now — Why hasn’t the Liberal government been properly enforcing its Policy/Program Memorandum (PPM) No. 145, which explicitly mandates the support of Gay-Straight Alliances? In response, McGuinty noted that while the Liberals “require every single school board in Ontario to adhere to [the policy],” it is ultimately up to the individual school boards to find “different ways to ensure that they adhere to those policies,” which may or may not include the establishment of GSAs.
This is, needless to say, a rather contradictory position to take given that the Policy itself explicitly states that School Boards “must also help school staff to give support to students who wish to participate in gay–straight alliances,” which one might logically assume means helping students establish a GSA in their school. But this is apparently not the case and McGuinty fails to elaborate on the form that this ‘support’ is to take, exactly. Such an equivocal response is absolutely unacceptable and unbecoming of a progressive leader — and much less of a self-proclaimed ‘Education Premier,’ who supposedly has the best interests of the province’s students in mind.
As such, we encourage everyone to continue to sign our petition calling on the Ministry to enforce it’s Policy and we’ll continue to work on this issue.
With the Premier’s refusal to enforce his own Policy, we have decided that we will be looking at asking the Ontario Human Rights Commission for it’s read on the Policy and the Premier’s position. We will post updates to our work on the issue as they arise.