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 Catholics Mount Protest Over Gay Diversity
Course
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: March 26, 2008 - 3:30 pm ET
(Vancouver, British Columbia) The Roman Catholic
Church is escalating its opposition to a British Columbia government teacher
guide that encourages diversity in the public school system.
This week the Catholic Civil Rights League, a lay
group, urged parents to protest against the guide over its inclusion of gay
issues including same-sex marriage.
The guide, which does not mandate diversity
studies, is the result of a human rights complaint filed by a same-sex couple in
2005. The following year the education ministry reached a settlement with Murray and Peter Corren to make the curriculum
gay-friendly.
Called Making Space, Giving Voice, the guide will
help teachers in developing discussions of diversity from kindergarten to Grade 12.
The Catholic Civil Rights League in a statement
said that the program will conflict with the religious beliefs of parents and
take time away from core
core curriculum subjects.
The League said it will work with other groups to
mount a concerted effort to kill what it calls the government's attempt
drive to introduce "non-heterosexual realities" in all classrooms.
The head of the Vancouver Elementary School Teachers'
Association said the League's protest won't succeed because the courts have already
ruled that public schools must be inclusive.
"The ministry is putting out this document as a suggestion -- it's not
mandatory but I think it's pretty solid," Glen Hansman told The Vancouver
Sun.
In their 2005 complaint to the B.C. Human rights
commission the Correns said that the provincial school curriculum does not
present a balanced view of gay issues.
Same-sex marriage is legal in British Columbia
but the province's schools do not include gay issues in the curriculum they
charged.
Murray Corren, a teacher in Coquitlam, has been
fighting for recognition of gay issues in the curriculum for a decade. He said
that there is systemic discrimination through omission and "suppression of
queer issues in the whole of the curriculum."
Corren said the curriculum should include LGBT
history and historical figures, the presences of positive gay role models - past
and present, the contributions made by gays to society and civilization, along
with issues relating to same-sex marriage and gay families.
A human rights tribunal heard evidence in the
case that year, but in 2006, the provincial government, without waiting for a
ruling from the tribunal, agreed to examine how to add diversity programs to the
school system.
The education ministry then asked the Correns to
participate in the process.
Even though the guide has been completed and
distributed it is not in effect. Education Minister Shirley Bond told The Sun
she is still reviewing public feedback
on the guide.
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