WHERE ARE THEY NOW? THE BATTLE FOR GSAs IN PUBLICALLY-FUNDED INSTITUTIONS
L. Iksander, Contributor
The updated sex-ed curriculum is a much-needed step in the right direction. Before this update, Ontario’s sex education curriculum had not been updated since 1998, making it the oldest in the country.
When I read the new curriculum, I was so happy to see that consent was being taught in such a comprehensive way. I was excited to read that students would be learning about sexual orientation and gender identity in Grade 8. However, when you search for the updated curriculum on Google, most of what pops up are articles and websites stating their opposition to the progress being made in public education.
The groups and “news sites” that are so vocally opposing the curriculum are the same groups that I encountered six years ago when my peers and I lobbied to get Gay-Straight Alliances in our Catholic schools.
My Catholic school, and many others, had refused to allow any group specifically for queer and trans students to form in their schools – and they had also provided referrals to, and the literature of, Catholic programs that were designed to discourage those “experiencing same-sex attraction” from adopting an LGBTQ identity.
My peers and I built connections with secondary school students from across Ontario, and we lobbied for two years until the right of students, in any publicly-funded school to form student groups for any marginalized community was legislated in the Accepting Schools Act.
Every step of the way, these extremely conservative ‘news sites’ and parent groups were there to oppose us. One of the first articles published about my school was from a conservative, Catholic, pro-life site, that named me specifically. I was only sixteen and they implied that I was conspiring with several other “homosexual organizations” to undermine the Catholic nature of my school. It was not the first such article and I remember often reading comments on these articles, personally attacking my friends and I. I’ve also encountered these groups in person at protests.
These parent groups are a very small and very vocal minority.
They see the new sex ed curriculum from their own perspectives and experience, and while they are entitled to those perspectives, we should not in any way assume that they represent the majority of opinion in Ontario.
We should not be withholding health-related information from children due to the opinions of a small, vocal group of conservative folk who claim to represent the majority of parents in this province.
It might be problematic if transgender identities are only discussed within the context of sex education.
Gender identity is not a sexual concept.
It’s also a problem that asexuality is not mentioned at all. It’s important for youth to understand that lack of sexual attraction in not uncommon and they are perfectly normal. While it’s great that transgender, two-spirit, and intersex identities are discussed in the curriculum, if we’re still splitting classes into “boys and girls” and using cis-normative language around body parts, trans students are still being excluded.
As an overall, I’m quite optimistic about the increasing inclusiveness of the updated curriculum and board policies towards queer and trans folk. I’m glad that the revision finally happened and I know that I’ll be excited to teach it.
