Thousands protest against updated sex education
Disgruntled parents swarm Queen’s Park in busloads, accusing Premier Wynne of trying to ‘co-parent’ their kids
In one of the biggest protests the Liberal government has faced in 11 years, more than 3,000 parents fighting the new sex education curriculum came by the busload to the legislature’s front lawn Tuesday.
Chanting “Kathleen Wynne, we will not co-parent with you,” the throng demanded the premier reverse changes that will see Grade 3 pupils learning about same-sex relationships, Grade 6 kids told about masturbation and “gender expression,” and Grade 7 students warned about the dangers of sexting.
“We don’t send our kids to school to be taught masturbation, the pleasures of, and advocacy for masturbation,” said Rev. Charles McVety of Canada Christian College, one of the protest’s organizers.
“That’s a decision that is left up to parents, not the state,” he added, insisting gender identity is better left to “postgraduate” studies.
Government officials said the curriculum — last updated in 1998 before smartphones became standard issue — is not a how-to guide to any sex act and is intended to teach children about their bodies.
Education Minister Liz Sandals blamed “Conservative” political forces for the protest — which two Progressive Conservative MPPs addressed — and maintained the government won’t back down as former premier Dalton McGuinty did in 2010.
“What the curriculum does teach is that in Ontario we have a tremen- dous diversity. We have people from all sorts of different races . . . we have people of various sexual orientations,” she told reporters.
“All of the things I just mentioned are protected under the Ontario Human Rights Code. Ontario curriculum teaches the Ontario Human Rights Code whether or not Mr. McVety likes it.”
McVety and other protesters denied political links, saying they were from a variety of cultural and religious organizations who rented dozens of buses for the trek.
Many took issue with previous accusations from Wynne — a lesbian — that a smaller protest in February was motivated by homophobia, but there were a number of protest signs such as “teach normal, not anal” in the crowd.
Eveline Azaeva, who moved to Toronto several years ago and has a 6-year-old daughter in a Catholic school, said she fears the new curriculum will sexually stimulate boys.
“I’m afraid about her safety,” said Azaeva, who carried a sign claiming “pedophiles” will vote Liberal. “She’s a nice-looking girl. She goes to the washroom anything could happen. Children can rape.”
McVety said the protest was timely with former Ontario deputy education minister Benjamin Levin in court this week for sentencing after pleading guilty to three child pornography-related charges. Wynne has denied Levin wrote the curriculum, saying it was prepared after consultations with a wide variety of experts.
Some parents handed out sheets of paper urging moms and dads to pull their kids out of school in a “strike” against the changes from May 4 to 11.