Mississauga Catholic Students Bullied After Trying to Start Gay-Straight Alliance

by Brandon Miller · 2011-04-12 08:51:00 UTC
Topics:

Catholic school boards in Ontario claim that gay-straight alliances (GSA) are unnecessary in their schools. They think that generalized equity clubs are enough to support LGBT students. This is what some students in Mississauga, Ontario, were told when they tried to start a GSA. And those same students are now being bullied, essentially proving the fact that equity groups are not doing their part in halting intolerance toward gay students.

Gay news outlet Xtra.ca reports that Leanne Iskander -- the teenager who tried to start a GSA at St. Joseph's Catholic Secondary School in Mississauga, Canada's sixth largest municipality -- and others in the group have been bullied ever since trying to form the safe space in March. They have received taunts on Facebook, threats and slurs in classrooms, and shoving and pushing in the hallways. Yeah, that sounds like high school to me. Sadly.

“When he first came out to me I was worried about the trouble he would have in life, like dealing with bullies. I never thought his school principal or his school board would be part of that group,” says the mother of one bullied gay teen. “My heart beats faster that he has to go through this, but I’m so proud of him that he is standing up to this bullshit."

Reportedly, the principal of the school took over a March 25 meeting that included brainstorming for a proposal to become an official GSA. Their request was denied again on March 29. In a statement, students were told that they could practice “under the umbrella of a broader community focus on equity and diversity, and through a Catholic lens.”

But that's not enough. One need only look at the Facebook comments these kids have received as proof of that. Here's but one sample: “…faggots should burn in hell… I hate faggots, and if my son turns out gay, I’ll backhand dat bytch till he likes pussyyy.” These teens deserve a safe space and it's obviously not happening in these larger "umbrella" groups.

Please sign the Change.org petition calling on the Ontario Ministry of Education to enforce their policy on having GSAs available in all high schools.

Photo Credit: ammiiirrrr

Brandon Miller is a freelance writer and editor from Toronto, Ontario.

RELATED PETITION

Call on the Ministry of Education to Enforce Their Policy in Support of Gay Straight Alliances(GSAs)
SIGN PETITION
2,065 People
PREVIOUS STORY:
Can Marriage Equality Pass the Rhode Island House?
NEXT STORY:
Bullied high schooler convinces MPAA to change ‘Bully’ rating to “PG-13”

COMMENTS (6)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.