Now that Pride Month 2021 has come to a close, we wanted to share our view of the good, the bad and the downright ugly in updates to 2SLGBTQI Inclusion in Ontario education.

Pride Month is declared and rainbow flags have been raised for the FIRST TIME EVER at 9 Catholic school boards across Ontario, including Dufferin-Peel, Durham, Niagara, Ottawa, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Waterloo and Wellington.

Many Ontario education community members have spoken up on social media, some declaring this moment as a major highlight in their career. Many people shed tears of joy. One teacher even came out as gay on Twitter after years of silence and oppression, shortly after seeing the flag raised. It was a truly historic month that will have a positive impact on our communities - and society as a whole - for many years to come.

Unfortunately, Halton Catholic District School Board, Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board all held shameful trustee votes against raising the flag, feuling petitions (HCDSB & PVNCCDSB). The others remained silent publicly, and complicit in the ongoing neglect.

The Ontario Human Rights Commission shared an open letter to the HCDSB in support of the flag, stating in part “under the Code, the HCDSB has an obligation to make sure LGBTQ2+ students and staff can learn and work in a welcoming and respectful environment, free from discrimination.” 

Ontario's Ministry of Education issued a press release titled Ontario Supporting 2SLGBTQI+ Students: Province Taking Action to Combat Homophobia and Promote Inclusion. It states in part “Discrimination, bullying and other forms of hate will not be tolerated in our province” and “The province will be seeking input from stakeholders and the public on provincial standards for trustee codes of conduct and more effective measures for preventing and addressing breaches of the code to ensure the dignity and wellbeing of all students and families, and to uphold public confidence.”

Since this petition began with detailing events at the Toronto Catholic District School Board specifically, some very notable changes have been made there recently, and we are so happy to share them, as we hope other boards across Ontario follow their lead as soon as possible, and before Pride Month 2022. In addition to acknowledging Pride Month and raising the rainbow flag:

• A Student Census collecting identity based data, including 2SLGBTQ+ related questions for the FIRST TIME EVER was launched. It’s important to note this is voluntary, anonymous and students can opt out of any question. We expect this annual Student Census to improve in the coming years, providing decision makers with tangible data to help make informed decisions.
• 2SLGBTQ+ Advisory Committees (student and board level) were formed and are now actively involved in information sharing with staff and trustees.
• The TCDSB Delegation Policy has been updated so that the Director of Education and Chair can review submissions prior to going live at meetings. This will help prevent delegations that serve no other purpose than to spread misinformation and cause harm to students' well-being.

These are amazing strides in the right direction worth pausing to reflect how far we have come, but also we must realize there is still work to be done. 

1. Since the Ontario Human Rights Commission has finally broken their silence on this issue publicly, we expect there will be more to come from them. We will be advocating to the OHRC for a fulsome Inquiry into Catholic education system in Ontario, if boards continue to refuse to take the necessary steps to protect and include their marginalized students.
2. We will continue to watch for dialogue on the OHRC submission to the Ministry of Education to implement Human Rights learning into the Civics and Citizenship curriculum.
3. We will be advocating for Gender Based Violence Prevention policy development at the TCDSB & beyond, as suggested during a LGBT Youthline #dobetter education seminar.
4. We will be advocating for a review of Theme 3 of the Fully Alive program, which if being used as instructed by the Institute of Catholic Education for the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario, is violating human rights of 2SLGBTQI students all across the province, and is not sustainable.

Catholic teacher/advocate Paolo De Buono announced on Twitter: “Starting in the 2021-22 school year, I will no longer as a Catholic teacher teach fully Theme 3 of the Fully Alive program in a Gr. 1-8 classroom. WHY: Theme 3 (the curriculum & Fully Alive resources) is anti-2SLGBTQ+ & therefore harmful & discriminatory.”  Mr. De Buono has also started a petition: #nopridenofunding to deliver to the Ontario legislature, to consider defunding Catholic boards that do not recognize Pride Month. Please follow this fearless educator and ally who is too often unfairly targeted by extremists online, that misuse scripture to defend bigotry.

If it is revealed that a constitutional change is needed to help close this gap between perceived denominational rights (to Catholic education) and human rights (to be educated without being discriminated against or harassed), this article explains how “changing the constitutional protection of Catholic education in Ontario is governed by section 43 of the Constitution, which requires only a resolution be passed by both Queen’s Park and Parliament.”  Due to this, we will be adding additional decision makers from provincial and federal legislature for the next phase of this petition to protect our youth from discrimination in Catholic schools.

Thank you for your ongoing support.