I didn't see this until just now. I love it. In a wonderful act of solidarity and committment to challenge the issue head-on, The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) trustees have declared themselves a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA). From the Torontoist:
The move stands in stark contrast to Catholic school boards in Ontario, which have recently come under fire for their prohibition of GSAs. The issue first started gaining broader public attention this winter, when students in the Halton Catholic District School Board wanted to start a GSA and were shut down. (The HCDSB is instead encouraging participation in what are called By Your SIDE—Safety, Inclusivity, Diversity and Equity—Spaces, which are catch-all equity clubs that do not pertain to the issue of sexual orientation specifically.) Students in Mississauga have also been making recent attempts at starting a GSA, and there seems to be province-wide momentum to continue rallying around this issue—which is viewed as particularly concerning because Catholic school boards in Ontario are provincially funded. Intentionally or not, decisions like the one yesterday by the TDSB are sure to add weight and energy to the campaign against GSA bans in those Catholic schools.
Hey Separate School Boards......end the GSA ban now and actually CARE for the students under your jurisdiction, or witness a successful campaign to eliminate public funding for separate schools (we won't be the first province to do so). Public money = YOU CAN'T DISCRIMINATE.Why is it that Ontario is the only jurisdiction in the entire Western world to fund one religion to the exclusion of all others? Quebec and Newfoundland resolved it, so can Ontario.
Update: Your read my mind, One School System Network : A day long conference on eliminating separate schools will be held in Toronto on May 28th. (20$ or $5 for students/seniors).