LGBT issues, referring to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender topics, are being presented in classrooms across Canada—from kindergarten on—in ways that have shocked some parents who were unaware until their children started questioning their gender and sexual orientation.
In many cases, if these topics are discussed as “equity” lessons, parents do not have to be informed.
For example, gender identity isn’t officially discussed in Ontario’s sex-education curriculum until Grade 8, and parents may opt out. But multiple Ontario school boards have strongly encouraged teachers to weave gender and sexual identity into lessons outside of sex-ed. And many of these lessons have no requirement to tell parents.
“People on social media, particularly fuelled by the American right-wing, are spreading a lot of untruths about what’s actually in the provincial curriculums,” he said. “If you look at the various curriculums, you'll see that there is not what is being said out there about aggressive teaching or conversion of kids to being LGBT.”
The curriculums don’t necessarily tell all, with LGBT issues figuring prominently in Canadian schools’ rapidly expanding equity and anti-bullying programs. It’s hard to pinpoint what exactly is being taught, because each province, school board, school, and teacher may have a different approach.
British Columbia
Heather Salivaras of Castlegar, B.C., says her son, who began kindergarten last year, became confused and distressed after he was told at school he could become a girl. He asked her why he would want to do that and if he should do that.He said he was told at school that he should marry whomever he has the most fun with, whether boy or girl, and that led him to question if he is supposed to marry his best friend (a boy) when he grows up. He started talking about drag queens and was under the impression he had been told to wear a dress.
Ms. Salivaras told The Epoch Times she is supportive of people with different gender identities and sexual orientations, but she is concerned parents were not informed before these topics were introduced to students.
The Epoch Times reached out to the school and school board to confirm its reaction. Superintendent Katherine Shearer confirmed the video was shown to the kindergarten class but did not comment on its age-appropriateness.
Ms. Pfahl is a former Ontario teacher who actively monitors gender-related issues in schools and publishes documentation sent to her by parents and teachers. She told The Epoch Times many teachers on X, formerly known as Twitter, share about the LGBT books, classroom and school displays, and lessons they weave into the school days.
“Because discrimination based on gender identity is now a protected ground, teachers are now allowed to teach all about it starting in kindergarten,” Ms. Pfahl said via email.
One mother, who preferred to remain anonymous due to the controversial nature of SOGI, expressed concerns in an open letter about a teacher at her children’s school, Brent Kennedy Elementary in Crescent Valley, B.C. The teacher read a book called “Melissa,” about a transgender youth, to Grade 5 students.
The mother took issue with a chapter called “Secrets,” saying, “Are they encouraging secrets?” The book also features a child ashamed of his body parts and contains a reference to “dirty magazines.” This introduces the idea of pornography, she said, adding “I am a proponent of child innocence.”
The Epoch Times asked the school’s principal, Jenn Kooznetsoff, to comment on the mother’s concerns.
“Teachers support human rights issues and promote the diversity of students within the classroom,” Ms. Kooznetsoff said via email. “Parents are welcome to reach out to teachers anytime with their questions and/or concerns.”
Emily Duggan of Moms Against the Norm hosts an online “story time” during which she reads books available at school libraries in the province. She’s aiming the stories not at kids but at their parents, to raise awareness of the content.
The Prairies
A teacher in Medicine Hat, Alberta, recently contacted Ms. Pfahl about what she said has been “a lonely few years” resisting a push to bring LGBT issues into her classroom in ways she finds inappropriate.Ms. Pfahl pored over the content of the workshop, which includes diagrams about fluid gender identity, says it’s harmful to “misgender” people by calling them by the wrong pronouns, and suggests that all washrooms should be gender-neutral.
Cisnormativity is the assumption that everyone identifies as their birth gender, or biological sex, while heteronormativity is the belief that heterosexuality is what’s normal and natural.
About 100 people subsequently rallied outside Mr. Hickey’s office in downtown Saskatoon against the messaging in his email.
“The message recommended that class field trips not include the Rainbow Tent – From Drag Queen Storytime to Inclusive Dress up Performances at the Children’s Festival,” the GSCS said in a statement emailed to The Epoch Times. “Families who send their children to Catholic schools have a reasonable expectation that the education their children receive is consistent with Catholic teachings and is age-appropriate.”
Videos, Kids’ Workshops in Ontario
Parents in Ottawa have told The Epoch Times that teachers have presented books and videos to their kindergarten and Grade 1 classes about gender identity and sexual preference.In the video, a woman with short hair and a tie speaks with a teddy bear who asks if boys can wear dresses. The woman replies that boys can if that’s what makes them happy. Teddy says “I still don’t know if I’m a boy or a girl.” The woman responds, “Well, Teddy, did you know that some people aren’t boys or girls?”
Her daughter’s teacher gave similar talks to the class, as Ms. Buffone found out when her daughter told her “there is no such thing as boys and girls.” Her daughter also said she didn’t want to be a “mommy” when she grows up and would own a dog instead. And she knew she could go to a doctor to change her body.
That was back in 2018, and when Ms. Buffone mentioned it to people, they would say it must have been a “rogue” teacher, she recalled. Now, when she talks to parents, they are more aware that this is common and institutional, she said.
Two other examples she gave are of third-party workshops given to grades 5–8 students in Ontario.
A video used in this workshop includes an exchange between children and an elderly uncle. “Back in your day, most people understood the world in terms of boys or girls, but now we know that gender is more complex than that,“ the uncle is told. ”There’s a clear message that the uncle doesn’t understand gender at all,” the parent’s account states.
The Maritimes
The Newfoundland and Labrador English School District has advertised LGBT workshops for students in grades 7–12. What exactly is taught is not clear and the board did not reply to an Epoch Times inquiry, but the CCSGD includes in its resources “The Queer History Colouring Book.” The book contains a page about the raid of a women’s bathhouse in Toronto in 2000 and has an image of the club whose name includes a sexual term. It also has a page about the 2016 Black Lives Matter Trans March in Toronto.New Brunswick has been the centre of attention this year for its school policy changes that say parents should be informed if their children are changing genders at school.
A child had been diagnosed with ADHD and other conditions when she started having suicidal thoughts at the age of 8. When she entered middle school, she had a plan in place for her mental health, including coping mechanisms that worked for her.
However, her mother told Mr. Austin that the school did not implement the plan but rather directed her into transitioning genders. This was before the recent policy changes, and so the school kept this transitioning secret, but the mother found out through another student at the school.
Using her previous strategies for coping with her mental health conditions, the student is now happy with her birth sex and thriving, Mr. Austin said. The mother told him the school’s handling of LGBT issues “actively contributed” to her daughter’s mental health emergency.
School counsellors and other mental health supports for children are increasingly taking the stance that children should be affirmed in any preferences they have regarding gender identity.
