Families to launch human rights case over outdated sex-ed curriculum
At least six Ontario families are launching a human rights case over the province’s plan to use an outdated sex-ed curriculum, saying it will harm their children — the first legal challenge amid a growing backlash over reviving the two-decade-old lessons and the impact on LGBTQ youth.
While the main applicant is an 11-year-old trans youth from rural Ontario, a number of families from Guelph, Toronto, Sudbury and other cities will support the case with evidence of how the new curriculum — which the Ford government said it will suspend this fall — helped support their elementary school children.
All of the kids involved in the case are younger than 13.
“We’ve been in conversation with parents of trans and queer youth, currently in Grades K to 8 … and these families are very concerned about the planned changes,” said lawyer Marcus McCann, who along with colleague Mika Imai will be announcing the human rights challenge Thursday at Queen’s Park.
“Our belief is that shelving the curriculum is raising red flags from a human rights perspective.”
Imai said they will request an expedited hearing, and may seek an interim order to keep the updated curriculum in place this fall.
While the families were going to hold off until the government officially ordered boards to revert to the 1998 curriculum, with school just weeks away “we just can’t wait,” added McCann. “The stakes are too high.”
On Wednesday, another public school board issued a statement of concern about reviving the old curriculum, which was used from 1998 to 2014 and contains no mention of same-sex families, gender identity, cyberbullying or sexual consent.
Education Minister Lisa Thompson said her government is fulfilling a campaign promise by holding public consultations on the new curriculum, in use since 2015, after hearing from some parents who complained they were not consulted and that the material is not age-appropriate.
The government will begin consultations this fall, although no specifics have been released.
Thompson has said the ministry will work with boards to provide resources for the 20-year-old curriculum and that there’s “ample room” to discuss issues not covered in it.
Jake Somerville’s child began transitioning in kindergarten and “we found that the school, the teachers, played a really big role,” said the Guelph father, helping her socially and “working with children in the classroom who had a lot of questions about what she was going through.”
https://www.thestar.com/amp/news/qu...hts-case-over-outdated-sex-ed-curriculum.html
At least six Ontario families are launching a human rights case over the province’s plan to use an outdated sex-ed curriculum, saying it will harm their children — the first legal challenge amid a growing backlash over reviving the two-decade-old lessons and the impact on LGBTQ youth.
While the main applicant is an 11-year-old trans youth from rural Ontario, a number of families from Guelph, Toronto, Sudbury and other cities will support the case with evidence of how the new curriculum — which the Ford government said it will suspend this fall — helped support their elementary school children.
All of the kids involved in the case are younger than 13.
“We’ve been in conversation with parents of trans and queer youth, currently in Grades K to 8 … and these families are very concerned about the planned changes,” said lawyer Marcus McCann, who along with colleague Mika Imai will be announcing the human rights challenge Thursday at Queen’s Park.
“Our belief is that shelving the curriculum is raising red flags from a human rights perspective.”
Imai said they will request an expedited hearing, and may seek an interim order to keep the updated curriculum in place this fall.
While the families were going to hold off until the government officially ordered boards to revert to the 1998 curriculum, with school just weeks away “we just can’t wait,” added McCann. “The stakes are too high.”
On Wednesday, another public school board issued a statement of concern about reviving the old curriculum, which was used from 1998 to 2014 and contains no mention of same-sex families, gender identity, cyberbullying or sexual consent.
Education Minister Lisa Thompson said her government is fulfilling a campaign promise by holding public consultations on the new curriculum, in use since 2015, after hearing from some parents who complained they were not consulted and that the material is not age-appropriate.
The government will begin consultations this fall, although no specifics have been released.
Thompson has said the ministry will work with boards to provide resources for the 20-year-old curriculum and that there’s “ample room” to discuss issues not covered in it.
Jake Somerville’s child began transitioning in kindergarten and “we found that the school, the teachers, played a really big role,” said the Guelph father, helping her socially and “working with children in the classroom who had a lot of questions about what she was going through.”
https://www.thestar.com/amp/news/qu...hts-case-over-outdated-sex-ed-curriculum.html
