Canadian School Board Member Compares Gay-Straight Alliances to Sex Clubs

The Halton Catholic School Board in Ontario has been under international pressure for the past few weeks, after the board moved to ban all gay-straight alliances in the district. One board member, Alice Anne LeMay, even said that it would be morally wrong for the board to allow gay-straight alliances, just like it would be morally wrong for the school to recognize clubs for Nazis.

Nothing like comparing gay students to Nazis to get the makings of a giant controversy. And sure enough, community outcry actually pressured the board to revisit their ban on gay-straight alliances last night at a policy committee meeting. During the meeting (which Xtra's Andrea Houston covered extensively), board members decided to take a second look at what's known as their equity and inclusive education policy. A vote will happen on Tuesday, January 18, where board members will decide whether to keep the gay-straight alliance ban in effect, or dump it and come up with something more consistent with community standards and Ontario's Human Rights code.

Of course, not to be outdone by LeMay's Nazi reference, another member of the Halton Catholic Board took the opportunity last night to weigh in with her thoughts about gay-straight alliances. That would be Jane Michael, who told Xtra that she hopes the gay-straight ban stays in place, because youth groups for LGBT people are nothing more than sex clubs.

"A homosexual lifestyle ... is not in accordance with the Catholic Church," Michael said. "Why can’t heterosexual students have a club? I don’t think sex clubs should be in school."

First Nazis, now sex clubs. And the hole the Halton Catholic School Board is digging for itself -- not to mention the international reputation the board is carving -- gets bigger.

Sarah Kelly, a student teacher in Ontario and an activist behind a Facebook page opposing the gay-straight alliance ban in Halton, told the Globe and Mail that there's an overarching concern here that government tax dollars go toward supporting Catholic schools. Board leaders have every right to oppose homosexuality as part of their faith. But discriminating against LGBT students is inconsistent with the Human Rights Code put forward by the Ontario government, which makes for a sticky situation where discriminatory policies could end up being rewarded with government funding.

"They’re trying to find a way to legalize homophobia funded by public dollars," Kelly told the Globe and Mail, noting that even if the Board moves to remove the ban on gay-straight alliances next week, there could still be some ambiguity about what the official policy of the school board is.

And that's partly because Catholic Bishops in Ontario have weighed in, saying that gay-straight alliances are inappropriate for high school students. Because providing a safe space for LGBT students to learn and turn to for support is somehow contrary to Catholic principles.

Given that the vote is officially next Tuesday on whether to overturn the gay-straight alliance ban, now is the time to step up the pressure on Halton. This story has already received some much international attention, from a dedicated page on Facebook to a shout out from Perez Hilton. The board should know that the world is watching, and wondering whether Halton will be a place where gay students can be compared to Nazis or where gay youth groups can be called sex clubs, or whether gay students will have the capacity to learn in a supportive, inclusive school setting.

Photo credit: ShuttrKingKT