Ahead of Pride Month: School Walk-Outs Planned, Parents Discuss LGBT Lessons in Schools

Participants of one of Campaign Life Coalition's several pray-ins nationwide stand outside Archbishop Marcel Damphouse's office in Ottawa on June 1, 2023. (Courtesy of Campaign Life Coalition)

June is Pride Month, which often means LGBT-related events and discussions at schools across Canada. Some school walk-outs are planned for the beginning of the month, to coincide with Pride flag-raising ceremonies.

And ahead of the month’s kickoff, a parental rights group hosted a virtual summit during which some speakers looked at how gender and sexuality issues are presented to children in Canadian schools, and how some parents are expressing concerns about the topics.

The National Parents Rights Spring Virtual Summit took place on May 25, uniting parents who want more say on what their children are being taught in school. Some have started to form parental right groups around the country, including the Parents Rights Coalition of Canada, which was formed in July 2023. Some of the groups are regional, including a Waterloo group of hundreds of parents, calling themselves Educating Minds: Parents of Waterloo Region.

These groups offer advice to parents about finding out what is being taught in schools, while others plan delegations for school board meetings and arrange protests.

Canada has seen a growing push for increased parental rights, especially when it comes to sensitive topics in the classroom. The governments of New Brunswick and Saskatchewan have passed laws that prohibit schools from keeping a student’s gender transition a secret from parents. Alberta has proposed new rules requiring teachers to have parents opt in before any gender or sexuality-related lessons.

Chanel Pfahl, a former public high school teacher, told virtual summit attendees that gender and sexuality content is increasingly being taught in Canadian schools without parents’ knowledge or consent.

“If ever you get the chance to walk through your kids’ school, have a look,” Ms. Pfahl said, referring to projects and artwork on display. “Either students in clubs will work on these [topics] or a class will do a project showcase, or it could just be an activist teacher who’s doing it all on their own.”

During Pride Month in June, LGBT terms are included in morning announcements at some schools, calling them “words of the day,” according to Ms. Pfahl.

“As a parent, you shouldn’t expect to be contacted with information,” she said during a recorded presentation. “They’re going to go right past you.”

She also said that ideas are shared at school assemblies through reading books aloud with content that celebrates gender diversity or equity.

“They might also get the students involved in this and the students might do a presentation on how your peers can be more inclusive, what language to use and all of that stuff,” Ms. Pfahl said.

Walkouts, Prayers Planned for Pride Month

Several school walkout events were organized last year to coincide with Pride flag-raising ceremonies, which take place at the start of the month. Some groups are already organizing similar events for 2024, while school boards debate whether to raise a flag or not.

This year, pro-life group Campaign Life Coalition (CLC) is planning an extended national walkout to protest the raising of Pride flags at schools.

Pride Month often begins with the raising of a Pride flag on June 1. However, as June 1 is on a Saturday this year, some schools may be raising the flag on May 31, while others may wait until June 3 when school is back in session. As a result, the CLC has scheduled its walkout for May 31–June 4.

CLC is also hosting a number of pray-ins at school board offices in Ontario.

Some school boards have been discussing whether to raise the Pride flag at schools, including Ontario’s York Catholic District School Board (YCDSB). The board decided not to fly the Pride flag in 2023.

Following the decision, Education Minister Stephen Lecce issued a memo saying “it is incumbent on all school boards” to ensure LGBT students feel supported.

“That includes celebrating Pride in a constructive, positive and meaningful ways [sic] to affirm that 2SLGBTQ+ students know that their educators and staff, school board administrators, and government stand with them,” he said.

YCDSB’s controversy has carried over to this year, with trustee Frank Alexander proposing a ban on Pride flags (and all other flags aside from the Canadian flag and a few others) inside schools as well. That motion was proposed in January and sent to a committee for review. The board also heard a request to fly the Pride flag at its April 30 meeting, but has not acted on it.

Dufferin Peel Catholic School Board in Ontario revised its flag policies recently. Its policy originally pertained to the national, provincial, municipal, and papal flags. At its April 23 meeting, it voted to add that “additional flags” may be displayed with approval from the director of education and that they may be displayed inside school buildings “in support of particular observances.”

The group Parents as First Educators, which is critical of how gender and sexuality are treated in schools, expressed concern about this new policy.

“It remains to be seen whether the Director will condone the Pride flag being flown or enforce sanctions on schools that fly it,” said Teresa Pierre, the group’s founder, in a May 16 post on its website.

Tara MacIsaac contributed to this article.