Students rally against sex-ed rollback
Teachers, activists and parents were among hundreds at Queen’s Park
Buoyed by rainbow-lettered signs, booming beats from a live band and pleas from teenage activists, hundreds of people rallied at Queen’s Park Saturday to make sure Premier Doug Ford heeds their message: Bring back our modern sex ed curriculum.
Organized by high school students, the rally — dubbed March for Our Education — comes just weeks after Ford followed through on a campaign promise to repeal the 2015 sexual-education syllabus, long opposed by social conservatives. The Progressive Conservatives have since faced heated criticism for replacing the curriculum with one from 1998, which predates same-sex marriage, the age of cyberbullying and emoji-fuelled sexting.
On Friday, Ford pledged his government would consult with parents in every riding before rewriting the curriculum, but as of yet, the government has released no details on the price tag or timetable for the consultations. Rayne Fisher- Quann, the 16-year-old co-organizer of March for Our Education, which came together in just 10 days, called sex ed “one of the most important issues of my lifetime.”
“I have been brought up with the1998 curriculum and I know just how much it is lacking,” she told the Star. “We can’t go back to it; too much is at stake.”
Teachers, LGBTQ activists and parents pushing children in strollers were among the hundreds who gathered under sunny skies on the front lawn of Queen’s Park. Many carried signs that poked fun at the 1998 sex-ed syllabus by comparing it to boy bands, mix tapes, Pepsi Clear and other cultural touchstones from the 1990s.
Carol Pasternak, a longtime gay activist, was among those in the rally’s front row, ready to show solidarity with the teenage organizers. She called the sex-ed issue a “matter of life and death,” which is why she made a sign, put on a bright orange T-shirt and, at the age of 64, came to her first protest.
“If gay kids don’t know it’s OK to be gay, they are stressed, depressed and that can destroy their relationships with their friends and families,” she said, adding that queer youth are more likely to commit suicide than their straight peers. “They need to know that being gay is normal. The hatred and lack of understanding is killing us.”
Having a modern sex-ed curriculum was so important to Tasha Farrington that she and her husband, Ceann Eisenhammer, packed up their two young daughters and drove more than an hour from Keswick, near Lake Simcoe, to attend Saturday’s rally.
“I want my children to grow up knowing they have a voice, that they can have an impact on the world,” she said, cradling her 8-month-old daughter on her chest.
“I don’t want my children to be raised with that curriculum. It’s not safe.” NDP Leader Andrea Horwath drew cheers from the crowd as she criticized the Progressive Conservatives’ “terrible, terrible decision” to revert to the 1998 sex-ed curriculum.
“It was never good enough to keep young people safe — even in 1998,” said Horwath.
Speaking to reporters, Horwath later said she shares concerns with many teachers, who are unsure of what lesson plans they will teach in September, calling the lack of clarity around the sex-ed syllabus “unacceptable and irresponsible.”
She also said parents are clamouring to take action against the sex ed changes and that the NDP will continue to pressure Ford to restore the 2015 curriculum, brought in by the previous Liberal government.
“It’s not too late. School doesn’t start until September and there is curriculum in place and available that can begin to be taught immediately, one that all teachers are aware of because they have been working with it already.”
Along with rallying for the return to evidence-based sex ed, March for Our Education organizers said they want the current government to move ahead with proposed revisions to the current school curriculum that would better reflect the experiences of Indigenous peoples. Earlier in July, the Ministry of Education cancelled three curriculum writing sessions that were to take place this summer, including two that were to add Indigenous content.
Hannah Glow, a Toronto-area high school teacher who attended Saturday’s rally, said Canada has a duty to work toward reconciliation, which means it must be taught in schools.
“Students want to learn more and more and more about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission,” said Glow, who came to the protest with her friends and colleagues, Kate Curtis and Chiara Capozzi.
All three Toronto high school teachers have taught both the 2015 sex-ed curriculum and the 1998 version. Curtis, a health and physical education teacher, said the 2015 syllabus saves lives. She said evidence-based sex ed gives teachers the training and resources to help answer the many questions teenagers have about their bodies, their sexuality and how to negotiate consent.
“No matter the curriculum we have, these kinds of questions from kids don’t go away,” she said.
“In a country where gay marriage is legal, it’s crazy not to have a curriculum that talks to students about their sexuality.”
“(Kids) need to know that being gay is normal. The hatred and lack of understanding is killing us.”
CAROL PASTERNAK LONGTIME GAY ACTIVIST