t says something meaningful about the status of our movement when the loudest complaint recently from the queer community was provoked by the mayor’s refusal to attend the Pride parade. Here in Canada — where same-sex marriage has been legal since 2002 — and particularly in Toronto, homophobia seems to be more often the exception than the rule. Exceptions are usually condemned quickly and almost unanimously. But one of the most flagrant and egregious has persisted, and even attracted apologists. That is the refusal of Catholic school boards across the province of Ontario to allow gay-straight alliances.
LGBTQ youth are more likely to commit suicide, skip school for fear of harassment, and suffer from exceedingly low levels of self-esteem. And if the experiences of my friends and colleagues in the queer community are any indication, our legal victories have done little to alleviate the day-to-day harassment and petty indignities inflicted on LGBTQ students. I can only imagine that the experience of these students in the Catholic system, surrounded by a dogmatism that actively and explicitly denies their dignity and worth, is worse yet.
Gay-straight alliances have appeared with increased frequency since a recent rash of suicides by queer youth drew public attention to the perennial issue of schoolyard and online bullying. These alliances function as a sort of peer support group expressly for a demographic that urgently requires it. Yet Catholic school boards have vigorously suppressed them, or at least their characteristic queer elements, choosing to allow generalized anti-bullying groups but maintaining a heavy-handed ban on anything deemed too “gay.”
Catholic school boards have consistently pursued policies that do nothing to meaningfully address the concerns of LGBTQ youth. The Toronto Catholic School Board, for instance, was the last board in the province to pass the Ministry of Education’s standard Equity and Inclusive Education policy, and it is now in the process of introducing a set of regressive exceptions to this document. Although the most critical amendments will not be voted on until a meeting in late August, proposed changes to the policy include provisions that “denomination rights take precedence over human rights protections,” and specifically take aim at gay-straight alliances, requiring the board to “approve only clubs which have goals consistent with the Catholic faith and the Catholic church’s moral teachings.” In another case, the Halton Catholic School Board expressly removed “sexual orientation” from an anti-discrimination clause.
These policies do not prioritize the well-being of their students, gay or straight. Patrick Keyes, the superintendent of education for the Toronto Catholic District School Board voices the paranoia that actually drives the debates: “a real fear, a fear their children will become part of this ‘gay agenda.’” It is shocking that any person in charge of children’s education could voice such a fatuous, toxic opinion. Catholic school boards across the province would do well to reconsider their priorities: it is incumbent upon them to function as an educational institution first, a Catholic institution second.
Unfortunately, for the time being, we must accept the historical anachronism that established public religious school boards in the first place. Since the nineteenth century, the public has more or less abided their existence, and parents continue to enrol their children in a system that provides an explicitly Catholic curriculum. But on this issue, the stance of these school board administrations is reprehensible; their policies are negligent and oppressive. They have ignored their first and most important mandate: the education and well-being of their students. That mandate is imposed on them by the public funds they receive. Worse yet, they continue to quash the efforts of their students to address the issue when they fail to act.
The Ministry of Education passed an equity policy in the first place to ensure equal treatment for all students. That right should be extended to all students — whichever school system their parents have enrolled them in. Catholic school boards must stop pursuing the special exceptions that allow them to ignore or aggravate the plight of their LGBTQ students. By insisting on universal deference to Catholic principles and teachings, school boards make it impossible for teachers and administrators to help students at all, since contravening these policies is considered grounds for termination. The boards also seem determined to stamp out student-led efforts at combating homophobia and creating safe spaces at school. The impulse to suppress anything overtly “gay” about these anti-homophobia groups recently culminated in a spat of farcical incidents, including one school banning the distribution of rainbow flags. It seems unlikely that the administrations of these Catholic school boards will go out of their way to help LGBTQ students any time soon. But at the very least, they must stop actively working against efforts designed to help these students cope.
