Ontario families to launch challenge
HUMAN RIGHTS CHALLENGE TAKES AIM AT CHANGES TO SEX-ED CURRICULUM
The Ontario government is discriminating against LGBTQ students by repealing a modernized sex-education curriculum that gave teachers and children the tools needed for an inclusive classroom experience, parents and lawyers said Thursday as they announced plans to launch a human rights case over the issue.
The Progressive Conservatives are replacing the curriculum with a version developed in 1998 while they carry out consultations for a new lesson plan. The move, announced soon after Premier Doug Ford took power in June, was the fulfillment of a hot-button election campaign promise.
Six families plan to file a case with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario in the next week, noting that the old version of the curriculum makes no mention of issues such as gender diversity or the rights of LGBTQ students.
The government’s decision to repeal the modernized curriculum violates the province’s human rights code and should be declared unlawful, their lawyers said.
“That’s going to have a huge impact on, particularly, LGBTQ students,” said Mika Imai, one of the two lawyers shepherding the case through the tribunal process. “We see that as discriminatory and contrary to the code.”
The lead applicant in the case is an 11-yearold transgender student due to start Grade 6 in September. Submissions from parents and other students will also be included.
Imai said the province’s modernized curriculum, implemented by the then-Liberal government in 2015, made a noticeable difference for students.
Lawyers said that although issues around gender expression did not surface in the curriculum until Grade 3 and were not directly discussed until Grade 8, the mere fact that they were present sent a concrete message of acceptance to LGBTQ students of all ages and instilled greater empathy in their peers.
The curriculum also gave teachers tools to answer questions, guide discussions, and otherwise provide support when issues related to gender or sexuality arose, Imai said.
Parents noticed an immediate difference in their kids when the modernized curriculum, which also tackled issues such as sexual consent and cyberbullying, came into effect, Imai said.