Halton Catholic board to discuss gay student groups

The Halton Catholic District School Board could decide Tuesday night whether or not to allow gay-straight alliance groups in its schools.

The clubs have been recommended by Queen’s Park as a way to provide support for gay students. The board voted last November to ban students from forming the gay social justice groups because they would clash with the school’s traditional Catholic value system.

Board director Alice Anne Lemay reportedly compared the GSAs with Nazi groups, saying both are banned because they don’t fit with the teachings of the Catholic church. That sent the on-line world a-twitter including blogger Perez Hilton sharing a link to an article in the Toronto gay newspaper Xtra!, stating “this is not cool” and a Facebook page petitioning the HCDSB.

Lemay later posted a statement on the school board’s website, saying her comments were taken out of context.

Despite criticism from gay rights groups, such as Queer Ontario and the Halton Organization for Pride and Education, the board has defended its stance, saying it has mechanisms in place to support students — including dialogue groups that focus on inclusion — to ensure that each student feels safe, respected and is free from persecution.

On January 11th, the board’s policy committee voted 6-2 to recommend the board rescind its equity policy which bans the groups. Perez Hilton responded by saying “Dear Canada: This Rocks!”.

About 130 gay-straight alliances have registered with mygsa.ca, a website launched last May in partnership with Toronto Maple Leafs coach Brian Burke, whose openly gay son was killed in a car crash in February 2010.