SEX AND EDUCATION
Kathleen Wynne
It’s Pride month so let’s have one more round of debate about whether schools and school boards should fly the Pride flag in June, shall we? Let’s firmly establish once again that homophobia, transphobia and hatred are being sanctioned by some of the adults with the most responsibility for children’s education in this province.
The flag debate is ongoing in some school boards in Ontario. Most recently, the York Catholic District School Board voted not to fly the Pride flag at its head office north of Toronto because, according to the Board Chair: “It doesn’t align with our Catholic values.”
Stephen Lecce, the Minister of Education, says he is disappointed. The Premier, Doug Ford had no comment on the situation. That’s what he said ‘no comment’.
The Pride flag is a symbol of inclusion and love. So, while I am not a Catholic, I do belong to the United Church of Canada and I am hard pressed to understand how celebrating inclusion and love contravenes any of the lessons of Jesus Christ or any Christian denomination.
Clearly there are other Catholics who do not share the perspective of this Board. On May 31st I celebrated Pride at St. Denis Catholic School with a schoolyard full of brightly clad kids, their parents, teachers and community members. They sang, danced, talked about diversity. A huge, beautiful Pride flag was unfurled from a second story window as the kids danced below. The Catholic values of that school and so many others don’t seem to be at odds with the values of inclusion and love. They are one and the same.
Why is this important?
You only have to read the comments on my Twitter account or listen to the anger of the voices opposing flying the flag to understand that homophobia and transphobia are alive and well.
And why is that a problem?
Because there are children in every one of the nearly 5000 publicly funded schools in Ontario who need to know that they can go to school and not be bullied or taunted or silenced because of who they are, who their parents are, or who they might or might not love.
I came out when I was 37 years old in 1990. My children were still in public elementary school in North Toronto. All three of them felt the impact of my revelation that I was a Lesbian. I worked with a group of parents, staff and Trustee John Campey at the former Toronto Board of Education to form a group called “Education Against Homophobia” to refine the Board’s Equity Policy and to put resources for LGBTQ+ students, staff and parents in place.
I watched neighbours literally cross the street so that they could avoid speaking with me.
I know from personal experience that figuring out who you really are leads to a richer, more complete life. It took me 37 years to figure it out but there are thousands of kids who know way earlier. My partner, Jane, could have used some kind words and a few role models when she was six years old but she lived in fear of telling anyone, including any of her family, for two more decades before she came out.
Homophobia was part of my coming out story. It was part of my political story. It was part of the culture of my children’s schools so that my son did not feel that he could be open about his sexuality until he left high school and was able to come out in university in 2000.
A whole lot has changed since those days. Laws and policies have changed. The Education Act in Ontario requires that Boards, Catholic and Public, create safe, equitable spaces for all. Same sex marriage became the law of the land in 2005. These laws and policies do not just apply to public schools. They apply to all of us, and to each and every one of the publicly funded Catholic schools in Ontario—as I frequently reminded clergy from the Catholic Church when I was Minister of Education and Premier.
I understand that there will always be a range of views on this subject. I understand that some school trustees in Catholic school boards may not like the way laws and policies have changed in the past 20 years. But their job is to uphold them all the same. Their job is to do everything in their power to make schools safe, welcoming spaces for all their children, staff and families.
I have always supported the right of the Catholic school system to exist in Ontario because of our history and our Constitution. There are many, many people in Ontario who do not share that view. Every time the Bishops and the Trustees bolster the hateful, homophobic and transphobic voices in their parishes and their constituencies, the case for public funding of Catholic education gets weaker.
To Catholic School Trustees who are still rejecting inclusion, to the Minister and the Premier and to the hierarchy in the Catholic church, I challenge you to pick an argument. Whether you support the right of every child and adult in our schools to be their authentic selves or whether you simply support the right of the publicly funded Catholic school system to exist, you need to get onside.
‘No comment’ is of no use to the children who need you to step up.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Kathleen Wynne - Kathleen Wynne was first elected to the Ontario legislature in 2003 as the MPP for Don Valley West. She was Ontario’s 25th Premier and leader of the Ontario Liberal Party from January 2013 to June 2018. Kathleen has dedicated her professional life to building a better province for the people of Ontario. She is guided by the values and principles that knit the province of Ontario together: fairness, diversity, collaboration and creativity.
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