Excerpt from the Globe & Mail: Halton Catholic School Board draws criticism for banning gay-straight alliances
by Kate Hammer
published Monday, Jan. 10, 2011
A decision to ban student gay-straight alliances earned strong criticism for the Halton Catholic District School Board days after the board’s chair defended the ban and listed Nazi groups as another example of groups not allowed in the district’s schools.
The chair, veteran trustee Alice Anne LeMay, apologized for her statement but said her words were taken out of context. She and her fellow trustees will reconsider the ban at a board policy committee meeting Tuesday evening.
Trustees voted in November to ban gay-straight alliances shortly after Ontario’s Ministry of Education introduced a new inclusion and equity policy that required school boards to create such clubs if requested by a student. Ms. LeMay defended the ban last week when speaking with Xtra!, a gay and lesbian newspaper.
“We don’t have Nazi groups either,” Ms. LeMay was quoted as saying. “Gay-straight alliances are banned because they are not within the teachings of the Catholic Church.”
Reached Monday evening Ms. LeMay said she didn’t know yet whether she would vote to support the ban or repeal it at Tuesday’s meeting. There are a number of new faces on the board who were elected in October and didn’t participate in the November vote, including an openly gay trustee, 22-year-old Paul Marai.
Mr. Marai called the ban a divisive “waste of time,” but also expressed his support for Ms. LeMay.
“I know her to be quite a tolerant and accepting individual,” he said.
Sources include
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/halton-catholic-school-board-draws-criticism-for-banning-gay-straight-alliances/article1864793/?cmpid=rss1
http://www.hcdsb.org/Pages/default.aspx
http://www.hcdsb.org/Board/Trustees/Pages/default.aspx
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/pdfs/SimcoeMCCatholicValues_Virtues_BA.pdf
http://www.paulmarai.com/aboutpaul.html
http://www.paulmarai.com/aboutpaul.html
Monday, January 10, 2011
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