January 12, 2011

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

Dear Ms. LeMay,

I am writing on behalf of Queer Ontario in response to your comments and actions
regarding Gay-Straight Alliances (GSA) in Halton Catholic District high schools. In a
recent study conducted by Egale Canada, three-quarters of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans
and queer (LGBTQ) students stated that they felt unsafe in at least one area of their
school, with half of their straight peers corroborating the unsafe nature of high schools
for LGBTQ youth. No student, queer or straight, benefits from this kind of learning
environment, nor do they deserve it.

Gay-Straight Alliances have proven to be an effective means of dissipating and
combating homophobia and transphobia in schools. The work they do helps to unravel
the myths surrounding LGBTQ persons, and offers a support network for youth who are
marginalized both at school and in their broader communities. And yet, you somehow
managed to find a way of comparing Gay-Straight Alliances to Nazi groups, which is an
irresponsible gesture on your part and, quite frankly, one unbefitting of an elected
official. For not only is it disrespectful to queer youth today who continue to suffer from
homophobic violence, but it is absolutely abhorrent to align an oppressive, violent, and
discriminatory group — and one that has a history of persecuting LGBTQ people, no less
— with organizations that seek to support students suffering from such systems of hate
and violence.

But the comparison is there, and your justification for it as being a sample of groups “that
are not endorsed and permitted in Halton Catholic schools,” simply because they are
“against magisterial of the Catholic Church,” is quite telling of the restrictive school
environment you want to create for your students. The fact that you claim that Catholic
schools have ‘denominational rights’ to do as they please with requests to establish Gay-
Straight Alliances also comes to show how poorly you understand your role as a school
trustee, not to mention the equity laws that govern your school district.

You are indeed correct in stating that you have denominational rights with regards to
most practices within Catholic schools, but should the wellbeing of your students not
come first? As Chair of the Halton Catholic District School Board, are you not primarily
responsible for the health and wellbeing of all students in your community, many of
whom identify as LGBT or come from families with members who do? Indeed, by
choosing to ban Gay-Straight Alliances in your schools, you show not only that you are
delinquent in your duty to foster a nurturing learning environment for your all students,
but you actually do a great disservice to your community by barring them from
developing more informed and compassionate attitudes towards your LGBT constituents.

Queer Ontario is of the position that allowing a safe and loving space for students to
explore, discover, and come to terms with their sexual orientation (should they choose to
do so, of course) creates an opportunity for dialogue, support, growth and empowerment.
As such, we disagree with the HCDSB’s claim that “the same objective of promoting
understanding” can be fostered with generic human rights groups, especially if this takes
place in an environment that discourages ‘coming out’ or the discussion of issues related
to sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

By choosing to not allow Gay-Straight Alliances in your district, then, you are denying
students their right to free association, freedom of expression, and the mandated
provision of a space that is free of oppression and discrimination. Or, to put it in more
empathetic terms: by blocking these Ministry recommended organizations, you are not
only contributing to a hostile atmosphere for LGBTQ students in your district, but the
student body as a whole. Everyone can benefit from honest discussion and a greater
awareness of LGBTQ issues — your straight-identified students, teachers, and board
officers included.

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
Halton Catholic District School Board (HCDSB)
Ontario Education Services Corporation (OESC)

December 5, 2010

Dr. Chris Spence
Director of Education
Toronto District School Board
5050 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario M2N 5N8

Dear Dr. Spence,

Queer Ontario strongly supports the three initiatives that compose the Positive Space Campaign currently being rolled out by the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) which will establish a Positive Space representative in each school, educate students on how the media shapes and forms gender expectations and lastly, recognize and acknowledge Gay Straight Alliances (GSAs).

Indeed, if a 2009 study conducted by Egale Canada was of any indication, these initiatives have been long overdue since three-quarters of LGBTQ respondents felt unsafe in at least one area of their school, with half of the straight-identified respondents agreeing that at least one part of their school was unsafe for LGBTQ students. By ensuring that there is a teacher in each school who has been trained by a Positive Space representative, the TDSB is being proactive in reconfiguring these otherwise unsafe spaces into inviting ones where students can have peace of mind knowing that there is a contact person at their school whom they can turn to for homophobia- and transphobia- related advice.

Your organization’s second initiative, which will coach students in Grades 8 to 10 on how the media shapes and normalizes gender expectations, is also a step in the right direction since it will encourage students to question their own assumptions about gender and sexuality to finally realize that these markers of identity are not as “natural” or as “given” as they are often made out to be. Through this acknowledgement of the constructionist nature of gender and sexuality, students will also begin to be able to question how the discrimination leveled against both systems is also suspect given the unstable and artificial nature of the identities themselves.

And finally, through the official acknowledgement on the part of the TDSB in recognizing Gay Straight Alliances (GSAs), you will ensure that these organizations are recognized and promoted as legitimate groups within our elementary and secondary schools – and not just another extra-curricular program – which legitimizes the identities and bodies associated with them.

Queer Ontario is a provincially based network of individuals who are members of the gender and sexually diverse populations and their allies committed to liberationist and sex positive principles that focus on questioning, challenging and seeking reform to social norms and laws that regulate queer people. Queer Ontario engages in public education, political action, promoting access and diversity and coalition building.

This is without question an exciting time for LGBTQ students attending school in the City of Toronto. Through the establishment and promotion of programs to counter gender and sexuality based violence, the Toronto District School Board is stepping up it’s commitment to ensuring that schools are a safe place for it’s diverse student body. Moving forward, I hope that other school boards outside of Toronto — and indeed, province-wide! — will adopt programs like the ones developed by your board in an effort to ensure that schools across Ontario are safer for all students.

In solidarity,

Casey Oraa
Chair, Political Action Committee
Queer Ontario

Toronto: Queer Ontario feels the Elementary Health and Physical Education Curriculum proposed by the McGuinty government back in January of 2010 was a step in the right direction that would have provided Ontario children and youth with up-to-date scientific information on human development, physical health, sex, sexuality, sexual behaviour, and gender identity. So it came as a tremendous disappointment to hear that McGuinty succumbed to the pressures that were created by sex-negative religious fundamentalists, moral conservatives, and misinformed parents, ultimately rescinding the curriculum just 54 hours after he had come out in strong support of it.

Given that the first round of consultations had already taken into consideration the concerns of parent groups and religious organizations like the Institute for Catholic Education – alongside public health organizations, sex educators, school boards, academics, and LGBTQ groups including Queer Ontario’s predecessor, the Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights in Ontario (CLGRO), – the new curriculum was in no way under consulted and actually served to bring Ontario’s Health and Physical Education Curriculum in line with those of other, more progressive provinces like British Columbia. The new proposed curriculum is long overdue, especially in its recognition of ‘invisible differences’ like sexual orientation, gender identity, and cultural values and beliefs: a much-needed concept that would begin to acknowledge the full diversity of Ontario’s population within Ontario’s elementary school systems.
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