Parents Concerned After Pride Flag Was Displayed Beside Christ Statue at Ontario Catholic School

Photo taken by a parent at an Ontario Catholic elementary school shows a progress pride flag on the wall next to a cross with a statue of Jesus. Photo provided to The Epoch Times

Parents at a Catholic primary school in Ontario are voicing concerns about schools displaying pride flags without school board approval or parental consent after a parent discovered one such flag had been hung next to a statue of Christ in one of the school’s classrooms last month.

One of the concerned mothers, who requested anonymity for fear of backlash and will be referred as “Collins” in this report, told The Epoch Times she saw on Dec. 12 a progress pride flag beside a statue of Christ affixed to a cross on a wall of a Catholic elementary School in Bolton, in Ontario’s Peel Region.

The school is overseen by the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board, whose current flag policy, reaffirmed on Jan. 21, prohibits displaying pride flags inside schools outside of Pride Month in June.

Collins says she was visiting the school, which she chose not to name, during a Christmas open house and was troubled to see the flag displayed alongside a symbol that is sacred in her Catholic faith.

“It really upset me that I had to witness Jesus Christ on the cross, and I just felt he was being mocked,” Collins said. “It was really disturbing to see.”

“And you know, I'll speak for the majority of parents, we don’t want to see that,” she added. “I would like to see the Catholic schools be reverted back to the true traditional Catholic school.”

Collins said she also saw pride flags on teachers’ desks while walking through some classrooms.

A photo she took that day, provided to The Epoch Times, shows a progress pride flag on the wall next to a cross with a statue of Jesus on it, arms outstretched. Both symbols appear to be placed above a classroom board.

Collins said the flag was removed from beside the cross after some parents shared their concerns with one of the trustees.

Bruce Campbell, general manager of communications and community relations for the board, told The Epoch Times in an email that the matter was addressed when the board was notified.

“We would not permit any object being placed on a holy symbol such as a crucifix,” Campbell said.

Collins said she was relieved to know the flag had been removed, but she worries other schools may be violating the policy and sending students messages she says conflict with the Catholic faith.

“If it’s happening in this small town here, in this small community here, then I’m sure it’s happening throughout. I’m sure there’s breaches to the policy throughout,” she said.

The school board did not respond to The Epoch Times’ inquiry about how it intends to deal with possible breaches of its flag policy and what it will do to ensure compliance.

However, during the Jan. 21 policy review committee meeting, a representative of the board said all staff, including teachers and trustees, have an “obligation” to comply with the board’s policies and practices, and that violations would result in “a course of action” to correct it.

The board oversees 151 Catholic schools throughout Ontario’s Peel Region and Dufferin County.

Some parents and LGBTQ advocates in the community say schools should be allowed to display pride flags throughout the year. They argue inclusion and respect are part of Catholic teachings, and that the current school board policy excludes LGBTQ students and limits their representation.

‘Confusing’ Messages for Students

Josie Luetke, a resident within the school district and director of education and advocacy for the pro-life organization Campaign Life Coalition, says that by pairing an image of Christ with the pride flag, the school conveys the message that the ideas represented by the flag are in line with Catholic church teachings, which she says isn’t the case.

“[Displaying the pride flag in this way] really says that this is compatible with the teachings of the Church, or even that the progress pride flag is supported and promoted by the Catholic Church, which is again very confusing [to students],” Luetke said in an interview.

The parents who argue in favour of displaying pride flags at schools say they symbolize inclusion, love, and respect, which they describe as Catholic values.

“As a practicing Catholic, mother and social worker, I am deeply committed to the Catholic values of inclusion, love, and respect for all members of our community. Raising the Pride Flag embodies these values,” Dominique Darmanin-Sturgeon, mother of two former students, wrote to the board.

She was one of the delegates who spoke at a Jan. 21 policy review committee meeting, at which the board voted against revisiting the flag policy or allowing pride flags to be displayed outside of June.  

Michael Smolders, a concerned parent who previously withdrew his two younger children from a school under the board’s oversight citing concerns about the integrity of its Catholic teachings, also spoke at the committee meeting.

He told The Epoch Times that while the ideas of being more inclusive may come from good intentions, the very idea of attaching a symbol to an object considered sacred in the Catholic faith is disrespectful.

“A crucifix is a sacramental object, it’s a sacred object,” he said. “So regardless if it’s a pride flag or any flag, it’s an abomination to put anything up against [it] and hang something on it. That itself is a disrespect, regardless of what flag it is.”

School Board’s Flag Policy

A number of delegates who spoke at the Jan. 21 committee meeting urged the board to amend its flag protocol to allow pride flags to be displayed year-round and also flown in June at schools with three flagpoles.

In a 10–1 majority vote, the board decided not to revise the policy.

The current policy, implemented in June last year, only allows the national, provincial, school board, or faith-related flags to be displayed year-round inside schools. Other flags, such as the pride flag, can only be displayed during specific observances and must be removed afterward.

As to flags flown outside schools, the June policy dictates that those with one flagpole must fly the Canadian flag, those with two add the provincial flag, and those with three display a flag reflecting the liturgical year. At the Jan. 21 meeting, the board decided to reserve the third flagpole for flags depicting the school board logo.