1998 Sex Education Curriculum Denies Human Rights

Ontario’s new premier Doug Ford is denying people their human rights by bringing back the 1998 Sex Ed curriculum.  His excuse that the 2015 Sex Ed curriculum didn’t consult with parents is false.  Not only were “4,000 parents” consulted, but also “2,400 educators, 700 students, and 170 organizations including CAMH (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health) and the Ontario Physical and Health Education Association”.  So, parents were definitely consulted and agree the 1998 curriculum was outdated and against Ontaio’s current and human rights laws.  There is no mention of LGBTQ rights in the 1998 curriculum, no mention of same-sex marriage, transgender people are not mentioned and thus not given protection.  Thus, LGBTQ parents are suing Doug Ford’s government.

How could Premier Ford replace the much needed 2015 Sex Ed curriculum with an outdated one that doesn’t protect all children and respect diversity and inclusion?  His reason is it doesn’t respect parents as they weren’t consulted.  Well those parents he is speaking of are only the “social conservatives” who want to live in the past and not accept LGBTQ rights and not accept that the world is changing for the better in that the laws of Ontario are now protecting the LGBTQ community.  Laws of Canada, brought in by Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government, now  ban  “conversion therapy” (which tries to make gays straight, and tries to make transgender people conform to the gender they were born into and shame them otherwise) allows for anonymity in Gay-Straight Alliances in public schools and legalized gay marriage.

Also, the old Sex Ed curriculum doesn’t mention sexual consent,  masturbation, nor gay sex, nor talk about LGBTQ rights, nor include how the internet and sexting can harm children.  Public schools should be a place to respect diversity and inclusion of all.  Gay-Straight Alliance groups in high schools need to be protected so that the LGBTQ students have a place to feel safe and respected.  Anonymity is crucial, as some of these students don’t have parents that are supportive.

One of the teachers noted that the “curriculum is not a list of things you’re not allowed to cover; it’s a minimum list of things you can cover”.  This leaves room for enlightened teachers who care about their students to add in what they believe should be taught to their students; in this case, the importance of sexual consent, sexual diversity, and acceptance, and safety on the internet.  There should be no room for hate and intolerance in education.

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(articles researched were from Huffington Post, The Toronto Star, and The National)