Equity Policy Update - Sexual Orientation Strand
Our April newsletter announced our May 12 presentation at the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) regarding our opposition to the then proposed Sexual Orientation Strand of the Equity Policy. In addition to the Hamilton-Wentworth Family Action Council (HWFAC) presentation were also presentations by the School Councils’ representative and a representative of the Pan-Orthodox Church Council. Each of the 3 presentations was opposed to the Equity Policy and the process by which it was created. We encourage you to visit our website (hamiltonfamilyaction.org) and review these presentations for yourself.
The attendance that evening by the concerned Christian community was excellent. The presentations were respectful yet very strong and factual. HWFAC received a phone call from a trustee following the presentation who commented that our presentation was “very professional and significant.” Trustees that evening voted 8 to 2 to send the Policy back to staff for a report at the next Committee of the Whole meeting on June 2. It seemed that trustees had heard our concerns and were prepared to act. We were wrong.
At the June 2 meeting, 5 presentations were made in favor of the Sexual Orientation Strand by Home and School Council, Ontario Secondary School Teacher’s Federation, Centenary United Church, GLBT Advisory Committee of Hamilton and Health Initiatives for Youth Society of Hamilton (formerly Planned Parenthood). Each of these presentations can be found on our website. The GLBT Advisory Committee of Hamilton presentation is discussed in a letter to the editor which was published and is included in this newsletter. In addition to the 5 presentations, the Board Equity Department gave their report in response to process issues raised at the May 12th meeting. Essentially, none of the points raised were addressed sincerely; rather, they continued to stick to their misleading script.
At the end of the night, all but one trustee supported the Equity Policy with Trustee Orban abstaining from the vote after speaking brilliantly about her concerns with the Sexual Orientation Strand excluding heterosexuality. The results were a tremendous disappointment but not a surprise. So what is a Judeo-Christian family to do?
We continue to recommend the abandoning of the public school system where feasible. The Catholic Board has vacancies in many (but not all) of their schools and has assured us they will welcome Judeo-Christian families. Others may opt for private schooling or home schooling. Some however may not have the option of leaving or simply choose to stay and fight.
For those that must or choose to stay, we are continuing to communicate with trustees to determine how parents can be assured that sexual indoctrination will not occur in their child’s classroom. We highly recommend that parents go to our website and download a copy of our Declaration of Spiritual Values which is a great tool for discussion with your child’s teacher and provides tremendous insight into who your family is and how some topics conflict with the teachings you are instilling in the home. If a group of 5 or more families can get together, we will come and explain how to best use the Declaration. Many teachers are thankful when presented with the Declaration as it helps them to steer away from topics that they too are uneasy with in a classroom setting.
We believe that the best thing for your child is to leave the public system and in so doing you are also causing the school board to lose about $8,600 in funding. If 250 children left the system the approximate loss to the Board would be $2,150,000, which may in fact be the only thing that really matters to them. If leaving is feasible, we encourage you to inform your trustee and Director Chris Spence in writing as to your reason(s) for leaving.