When it comes to what we
may encounter further down the LGBT legislative reform, Canada is usually a
fairly good indication on most fronts. So, what is the situation with Ontario's
new comprehensive sexuality education programme?
Ontario's out lesbian Premier, Kathleen Wynne
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In Canada and the United
Kingdom, the debate is now about the appropriate amount of information about gay
sexuality and gender identity to deliver within successive stages of an
inclusive comprehensive physical and sexuality education. Obviously, no-one is
talking about providing graphic details to small children. When teenagers become
potentially sexually active however, they need to have concrete facts about
physiology and concrete psychological skills to able to act with requisite
self-esteem when it comes to either accepting or refusing first sexual
encounters. Predictably, the Canadian Christian Right wants them to postpone
their first sexual experience until and unless their (straight) wedding night.
Just as inevitably, there is considerable venom expended against the idea that
lesbian and gay sexuality and transgender identity might be included within a
modern comprehensive curriculum.
In Ontario, the
culprit is the so-called "Canadian Families Alliance." The ringleaders of this
interfaith religious social conservative coalition include the extremist REAL
Women of Canada antifeminist group and Campaign Life Canada, an anti-abortion
group. However, as well as these usual culprits and various religious social
conservative "Parents Association" front groups, there are also religious social
conservatives from other faith traditions than conservative Christianity- the
Muslim Moms Empowerment Network, United Hindu Congress of Canada, Russian
Congress of Canada, Russian Orthodox Metropolis of Canada, Greek Orthodox
Christians of Canada, Islamic Centre of Toronto, the African Family Revival
Organisation and Georgian Community of Canada. This may well be interfaith or
multiculturalist garnishing of a primarily conservative Christian dominated
political agenda, or it may represent genuine pluralist cultural outreach from
formerly ardently sectarian conservative Christians. One particular target is
Ontario's out lesbian Premier, Kathleen Wynne. CFA argues that the curriculum's
content conflicts with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the
Canadian Criminal Code.
Some disturbing
questions occurred to me as I read the CFA propaganda. Why shouldn't eight year olds
learn about sexual consent as an important principle of sexuality? Sadly, it may
already be too late for some small children who may already have become victims
of child sexual abuse and who are bewildered and frightened at what is happening
to them? With such knowledge, they can approach trustworthy adults to disclose
the horror that is happening in their lives and the guilty parties can be
apprehended and punished for their predatory, despicable acts. Predictably, the
Christian Right's anti-transgender ideological dogma is then mentioned. What isn't mentioned is that the
anti-transgender ideology itself was only sanctioned by John Paul II's Vatican
twelve years ago. What right do conservative Catholics have to force a sectarian
philosophy of gender ideology through their misrepresentation of mainstream
evidence-based medical information about gender dysphoria and identity? The
same applies to objections to same-sex-led families and self-pleasure. The
curriculum also includes references to oral and anal sex. It is probably not
intended that the latter is acted upon at the age of twelve, or any time before
the Canadian age of consent at sixteen, and moreover, it is somewhat despicable
to refer to HIV/AIDS statistics without referring to the parallel instance of
teenage pregnancy and STIs from unprotected straight sexual activity. But all to
no avail, because, predictably, CFA don't want Ontario's comprehensive sexuality
education curriculum to refer to condoms because artificial contraception such
as condoms is "against Catholic natural law" philosophy related to
sexuality.
Another extremist
opponent of the curriculum, Charles McVety of the "Canadian Family Action
Council" and a Canadian televangelist, was rebuked for alleging that "gays and
lesbians prey on children" by the Canadian Radio and Telecommunications
Commission (broadcast regulator) in 2013 and making similar disparaging remarks
about Wynne's sexual orientation. Using links to the actual documentation
itself, mainstream Ontario parent Karyn Pickles has created a rebuttal blog that
counters the accusations made against the new curriculum by CFA, REAL Women,
Canadian Family Action Council and other pressure groups.
Might this happen
in New Zealand? We already know that Family First has World Congress of Families
connections with the likes of REAL Women of Canada, so it is probably around the
corner. Fortunately, Ontario's Premier Wynne is keeping on track and there is
every prospect that the obscurantist federal Harper administration in Ottawa
will be defeated in October 2015. In Ontario itself, the provincial
Conservatives are playing it safe as well. Cyberbullying and sexting exist and
teenagers need to learn how to counter them. Ontario's voters won't tolerate
the sort of rampant homophobia and transphobia that exist in this
propaganda.
There are some
sinister undertones to this propaganda and we should not hesitate to oppose it
if it surfaces in New Zealand.
Not Recommended:
Canadian Families
Alliance: http://www.
canadianfamiliesalliance.ca
REAL Women of
Canada: http://www.realwomenofcanada.ca
Recommended:
Xtra Canada: http://www. dailyxtra.com
Martin Cohn: "Times
have changed for sex ed protestors" Toronto Star: 23.02.2015: http://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2015/02/23/how-anjti-sex-ed-protestors-fell-from-grace-cohn.html
Editorial:
"Ontario's Sex Education Curriculum Teaches Society's Values and That's Good" Globe and Mail: 05.05.2015:
http://www.globeandmail.com/globe-debate/editorials/ontarios-sex-ed-curriculum-teaches-societys-values-and-thats-good/article24329359
Karyn Pickles: The
Sky is (Not Actually) Falling: Highlights of the Ontario 2015 Sex Ed Curriculum"
Pickles Inc: 23.02.2015: http:// www.picklesinc.com/
the-sky-is-not-actually-falling-highlights-of-the-2015-ontario-sex-ed-curriculum
