Ontario premier against Catholic school ban on gay-straight alliance clubs
TORONTO -- Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne is hoping a move to ban Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) clubs at publicly funded Catholic schools in Toronto will fail.
"We've made it very clear in legislation that if students want to form a group and call it a Gay-Straight Alliance that they have the right to do that," Wynne said Tuesday. "And my hope is that the adults in the board will work with the students and will allow them to form those groups.
"My suspicion is that a majority of the trustees in that board recognize what the law is, they recognize that we went through a very long debate about the right of young people to take part in creating safe and inclusive and equitable environments in their schools," she said.
A motion by Trustee Garry Tanuan, of the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB), seconded by Trustee John Del Grande, says provincial legislation which authorizes the creation of GSAs in all publicly funded schools violates the Constitutional rights of Catholics.
"Gay-Straight Alliance clubs promote a positive view of homosexual activity, which undermines Catholic teaching on chastity and marriage," the motion says.
The right to form GSAs was included in provincial anti-bullying legislation brought in by the Ontario Liberal government.
If the board goes ahead with the ban, Wynne said she'll "deal" with it.
Don't know where God is but the Devil is in the details