Peel Catholic board says no to gay-straight clubs
March 29, 2011
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Louise Brown
EDUCATION REPORTER
The Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board has backed a decision by one of its schools not to let students form a gay-straight alliance, but also says every Catholic high school in the region must have a student club that deals with homophobia among other forms of discrimination.
In an open letter to the community posted Tuesday on its website, the board’s chair and director of education said they support students who may need to discuss homophobia and bullying, but that these discussions “must be reflective of our faith perspective,” within clubs that operate “under the umbrella of a broader focus on equity and diversity, and through a Catholic lens,” said the letter from chair Anna Abbruscato and director of education John Kostoff.
“We will be requesting that one group in each secondary school be designated to include, as part of its focus on diversity and equity, a forum for discussion of issues related to same sex orientation, homophobia, stereotyping, related bullying and inclusion,” said the statement.
“If such a group does not exist, then an existing social justice/equity-focused group must be expanded to include this component (homophobia.). The name of this group must be respectful of, and in alignment with, our Catholic perspective.”
Student gay-straight alliances are not uncommon in Ontario’s public high schools, but Catholic boards have avoided clubs with “gay” as the focus because of the Catholic Church’s nuanced stand on sexual orientation, which tolerates homosexual people but not the act of homosexual sex.
The issue became a political hot potato last fall when the Halton Catholic District School Board issued an outright ban on gay-straight alliances, but withdrew it after sweeping criticism from human rights activists.
Premier Dalton McGuinty said recently that Ontario schools must not tolerate discrimination on the grounds of race, gender, religion or sexual orientation, “but we have also said boards can find different ways to ensure that they adhere to these policies.”
Most Catholic boards promote broader equity clubs that can address homophobia as one of their issues, not the sole focus.