Quantcast
Published On: Fri, Sep 18th, 2015

Toronto schools will not allow students to opt out of homosexuality or gender identity curricula

The Toronto District School Board has confirmed it will not permit students to opt out of any portion of public school curricula that deals with homosexuality or gender identity, stating as its reason that these groups fall under Ontario Human Rights Code protection.

Spokesperson Ryan Bird told LifeSiteNews in a telephone interview that while the TDSB has a “board-wide policy” for parents to “request a religious accommodation when it comes to the sex-ed curriculum,” the board “will not be making accommodations for people that are requesting to opt out of portions of the curriculum that have to do with sexual orientation or gender identity.”

“When there’s a request not to learn about an identifiable group…whether it’s sex, gender, race, culture, religion, that’s something we wouldn’t accommodate for,” Bird said, adding the ban on opting out is “about anything that would start to get into the human rights territory.”

Constitutional lawyer Albertos Polizogopoulos, this position is “absolutely ridiculous from a legal perspective, at least in my opinion.”

“I think that the Peel school board – and if the Toronto school board is doing this, it as well – are grasping at straws and are making it up as they go,” he told LifeSiteNews in a telephone interview.

Archie Comics gay kissNot only is opting out of lessons dealing with homosexuality and gender identity not discrimination, but “if the objection of parents is grounded in religion or moral conscience or belief, the school has a duty to accommodate,” said Polizogopoulos.

“School boards are also bound by Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which protects freedom of conscience and religion,” noted the Ottawa-based lawyer.

He represents parent Steven Tourloukis, who is currently suing Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board over the right to withdraw his children from classes he finds morally and religiously offensive.

Polizogopoulos says it’s true that the Ontario Human Rights Code prohibits discrimination based on a number of grounds, including sexual orientation, gender identity, race, creed, and age.

“However, accommodating a parent’s request to pull their kids out of a specific class dealing with, let’s say, alternative families, does not translate into discriminating against individuals who are perhaps of a different sexual orientation,” he said.

“It simply isn’t, because you’re not treating the child from the alternative family any differently,” Polizogopoulos stressed. “You’re accommodating the person whose religious or moral or cultural beliefs would have them not want to sit in that class.”

Campaign Life Coalition spokesman Jack Fonseca agrees, and says the boards’ opt-out bans are “intimidation tactics” based on a “bogus right” and that parents must fight back.

“I think parents should push back very strongly. They should be very blunt and tell these administrators at the school board that there is no bogus right that allows you to eradicate the religious and moral values from the hearts and minds of my children,” he told LifeSiteNews.

“Show me the section of the Human Rights Code that states explicitly that classroom teachers have the right to impose their own values about sex on other people’s children,” Fonseca said. “It’s not there, period. This is an intimidation tactic, and the only way the school board will get away with this is if parents allow them to.”

More at Life Site News

dont hate dont discrimminate baker refuse gay christian wedding cake

On the DISPATCH: Headlines  Local  Opinion

Subscribe to Weekly Newsletter

* indicates required
/ ( mm / dd ) [ALL INFO CONFIDENTIAL]

About the Author

- Writer and Co-Founder of The Global Dispatch, Brandon has been covering news, offering commentary for years, beginning professionally in 2003 on Crazed Fanboy before expanding into other blogs and sites. Appearing on several radio shows, Brandon has hosted Dispatch Radio, written his first novel (The Rise of the Templar) and completed the three years Global University program in Ministerial Studies to be a pastor. To Contact Brandon email [email protected] ATTN: BRANDON

Displaying 4 Comments
Have Your Say
  1. Hey, Look — Boots on the Ground in Syria + More – Daily Digest | PA Pundits - International says:

    […] Toronto schools will not allow students to opt out of homosexuality or gender identity curricula […]

  2. Brian says:

    I have only one question that can solve ALL of this. Does a parent have the right to have their child opt out of taking Biology or Earth since because they are creationists and evolution is against their faith? OF COURSE YOU DON’T.

    Likewise, you don’t allow children or their parents to opt out of information that is essential to many and indeed can provide a difference between life and death. Whether it helps to curtail bullying and school violence, whether it saves a kid from taking their own life, or whether it aids someone in using safer sex practices to avoid STD’s, the point is that this information is vital to the child and they should not be allowed to opt out of an education.

    • Ray says:

      Authoritarian nonsense. Bullying and school violence are behavior problems that should be acted upon when they occur. Stop pretending that lessons on homosexuality and gender identity are just propaganda and normalizing their lifestyles. If school would stick to educating on curricula instead of social politics, then maybe students would perform better. They should allow “opt-outs” on all sorts of topics, but the testing requirements and curricula put forth in a syllabus is not up for discussion.

  3. Toronto schools will not allow students to opt out of homosexuality or gender identity curricula - InfoPult News says:

    […] Read more at The Global Dispatch Related News Millwood schools official requests panhandling ban near schools By William Crum Staff Writer [email protected] Millwood School Board president asked the Oklahoma City Council on Tuesday to establish panhandling-free zones around schools.Christopher Harrison said students "are being confronted leaving … READ MORE Colleges across the country now teaching, stating that gender is ‘fluid’ choice, ‘not a biological trait’ College students are told that being male and female is a choice, not a biological trait, says College Fix, summarizing the messages from colleges all over the country. “Whether it’s … READ MORE NC State students will be punished for using ‘sexist’ pronouns, ‘mankind’ and no ‘him’ or ‘her’ A women’s and gender studies lecturer at North Carolina State University is docking her students’ grades for using “sexist language” in class assignments. The criteria is “Generalized pronouns,” according to … READ MORE University of Texas professor tells students to not say ‘God Bless you’ A University of Texas Rio Grande Valley professor indicated on his syllabus that students should “refrain from saying, ‘God bless you.’” The claim was that this was disruptive. A snapshot … READ MORE Official requests panhandling ban near schools By William Crum Staff Writer [email protected] Millwood School Board president asked the Oklahoma City Council on Tuesday to establish panhandling-free zones around schools.Christopher Harrison said students “are being confronted leaving … READ MORE School bus crash kills 2 students, seriously injures 3 HOUSTON (AP) — A school bus plunged off a highway overpass in Houston after being hit by a car on Tuesday, killing two students and seriously injuring three other people, … READ MORE The Sony Hack and the Gender Pay Gap Female stars were paid less than their male counterparts. Source:: The Sony Hack and the Gender Pay Gap READ MORE Seattle students start school with teachers strike suspended SEATTLE (AP) — Yellow school buses rolled through Seattle's streets and noisy schoolchildren packed playgrounds again as thousands of students started the school year Thursday that was delayed by a … READ MORE Millwood schools official requests panhandling ban near schools Colleges across the country now teaching, stating that NC State students will be punished for using University of Texas professor tells students to not Official requests panhandling ban near schools School bus crash kills 2 students, seriously injures The Sony Hack and the Gender Pay Gap Seattle students start school with teachers strike suspended var hupso_services_c=new Array("twitter","facebook_like","facebook_send","google");var hupso_counters_lang = "en_GB";var hupso_image_folder_url = "";var hupso_url_c="";var hupso_title_c="Toronto schools will not allow students to opt out of homosexuality or gender identity curricula"; […]

Leave a comment

XHTML: You can use these html tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

like_us_on_facebook

 

The Global Dispatch Facebook page- click here

Movie News Facebook page - click here

Television News Facebook page - click here

Weird News Facebook page - click here 

DISPATCH RADIO

dispatch_radio

THE BRANDON JONES SHOW

brandon_jones_show-logo

Archives