1) Muslim Parents Demand School Remove Their Children From Class On Discussions on Gay Families 2) Premier calls for 'gay-ed' tolerance; School refuses to excuse Muslims; Teachers flocking to diversity class 3) Editorial by Muslim - Fostering empathy; Family values row over `gay-ed' class ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) Muslim Parents Demand School Remove Their Children >From Class Discussions On Gay Families Wednesday, November 16, 2004 by Jan Prout 365Gay.com Toronto Bureau (Toronto, Ontario) Muslim parents Monday night demanded that their children be removed from a mandatory class on diversity. The group told the Toronto District School Board that the program promotes homosexuality. The parents, whose children are enrolled in the downtown Market Lane Public School, were particularly angered by discussions in the course on same-sex marriage, and families where both parents are gay. Speakers said that the program is disrespectful of Islam. About 150 people packed the meeting room in a nearby community center. After listening to the presentations the board refused to exclude the students as a group deciding that removing any group of students from the class would violate the rights of children of same-sex parents. Individual parents who do not want their children to take part in the class can remove them, the board decided. Part of the class includes a video by a school board social worker illustrating the feelings of children who have same-sex families and the taunts they receive at school. "There is sometimes the misunderstanding that anti-homophobia education is sex education. It does not involve the explicit description of sexual activity. It discusses families," said Michelle Flecker, an equity worker at the board who reviewed the board's policies for the meeting. While the board has a policy to consider accommodation based on religious rights, "religious beliefs do not trump human rights," Patricia Hayes, a human rights expert with the school board told the Toronto Star. "They showed a gay lifestyle to the kids without the knowledge of the parents," said Mohamed Yassin, a father of three. "They're willing to help gay students with support. Gay people have their rights. I have my rights," Yassin told the Star. Toronto has a large Muslim community. Of the 560 students at Market Lane, about 10 to 15 per cent are Muslim. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) Premier calls for 'gay-ed' tolerance School refuses to excuse Muslims Teachers flocking to diversity class >From the Toronto Star - Nov. 18, 2004 http://tinyurl.com/6pwof ROBERT BENZIE, TESS KALINOWSKI AND LESLIE SCRIVENER STAFF REPORTERS Premier Dalton McGuinty is urging parents who seek to exclude their children from "anti-homophobia education" at a downtown Toronto school to be more tolerant. "To me this speaks to a kind of broader issue. What kind of society do we want to live in, what kind of society are we trying to build?" the Premier told reporters yesterday. "I think the kind of society that we should all aspire to is where we respect each other's difference. That's fundamentally what this is all about and I think our children should be taught to respect the differences that we manifest." Some Muslim parents at Market Lane Public School met Tuesday night with the Toronto District School Board to discuss their desire for the exclusion of their children from classes on families with same-sex parents. Some parents said they felt their religious rights were being trampled on in the name of gay rights. About 10 to 15 per cent of the 560 students at the school are Muslim. The board has refused to accommodate their request.Children with same-sex parents have the right to have their families represented in educational material in the same way other kinds of families are included, said board officials. Even though students are excused from sexual education classes on religious grounds, the board says anti-homophobia education does not include descriptions of sexual activities. McGuinty said it's "up to the trustees" to determine whether parents can pull children from the classes, but he noted that tolerance is a two-way street. "It's important all our children — all our children — have the opportunity to learn about those things that distinguish one of us from the other and that they learn to respect those differences," he said. The Halton District School Board, like the Toronto board, says no one is exempt from anti-discrimination education because of religious beliefs. "We know they are going to be in class with kids of same-sex parents and they have to respect that, treat everyone kindly and not exclude them," said Suzanne Muir, diversity co-ordinator for the Halton board and a Muslim. While some Muslims may feel that education about same-sex families amounts to tacit approval of gay lifestyles, Muir says she sees it differently: Islam teaches equity. It's important to create a positive environment in all grades, she said. `It's current. It's in the media. People want to know more about it.' Chris D'souza, equity officer at Dufferin-Peel District School Board, referring to popularity of same-sex seminar for teachers "If a kindergarten teacher is talking about who is in your family and a child draws a picture of two dads, you can't ignore it and say, `Draw a mommy.' "That's the reality of public schools. Families are different. We may not agree, but we have to respect these families." Tarek Fatah of the Muslim Canadian Congress said he supports the Toronto board. "These (families) want selective human rights that protect them and not others. These parents want absolute control of their children. They are scared their children will grow up with their own thinking, that young women will grow up with independent ideas." Others support Muslim parents' right to remove children from discussions of same-sex relationships, saying a Muslim child might experience "turmoil" adjusting to different views. "We're not trampling on anyone else's rights," says Zafar Bangash, president of the Islamic Society of York Region. "We don't want our children subject to that kind of thinking. It's very clear in our belief that marriage is between a man and a woman. It goes against the core beliefs of Muslims; our understanding springs directly from the Qur'an." Schools are the place where different cultures and orientations naturally collide and in the last 20 years boards have become more experienced with the issues emerging from an increasingly diverse population. But dealing with those issues hasn't necessarily become easier, say those charged with promoting equity and protecting students' human rights. "Some of the old problems around gender and sexual orientation still exist but are really exacerbated by the influx of non-white immigrants," said Chris D'souza, equity officer at the Dufferin-Peel District School Board. "We have pockets in Peel, in Markham, in central Toronto where you can only use the word `non-white,' you can't use `visible minority' because 80 per cent of the students are `non-white.' We need to be reflecting that diversity in the administration pool and the classroom." D'souza is organizing a conference on Saturday designed to sensitize teachers and administrators to diversity issues. Yesterday it was already overbooked with more than 225 educators expected to spend half their day off learning about ethnicity and faith issues in the classroom. "It's current. It's in the media. People want to know more about it," he said. You can't touch on race or religion without inciting emotion and public debate, said Edward McKeown, who was education director of the old Metro board. Issues around homosexuality really started emerging in the education system after Toronto's infamous bathhouse raids in 1981, he said. "The Toronto board was certainly on the cutting edge," he remembered yesterday. "They had a policy and a practice as far as homosexuality was concerned. It was a reality that existed in life and homosexuals were not to be discriminated against." By 1991, when an Ontario court ruled the Peel school board couldn't prohibit a Sikh student from wearing a ceremonial dagger in school, there was barely a ripple of concern in Toronto schools, said McKeown. Since 9/11, schools have worked overtime to provide students with a safe haven from ethnic, cultural and religious bias, said Patricia Hayes, a human rights officer with the Toronto board. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3) Fostering empathy Family values row over `gay-ed' class http://tinyurl.com/5wxxy >From the Toronto Star - Opinion/Editorial - November 17, 2004 As a Muslim woman and educator in Ontario, I am disheartened by the latest controversy regarding Muslim parents who wish to exclude their children from discussions regarding same-sex families. What these parents fail to realize is that inclusive education, which promotes the positive acceptance of all groups, exists in order to ensure that different lifestyles are understood in a compassionate way. Isn't this what Muslims would like when their children wear hijab in school and fast during the month of Ramadan? Indeed, schools today widely acknowledge Muslim rituals and holidays, which illustrates how far we've come as a society committed to our pluralistic values. If through discussions around same-sex families, children are taught to foster respect, empathy and compassion for their peers, won't our students be better prepared to strive for social justice and to decry inequity? Don't Muslim parents realize that these are the very kids who will one day stand up for their Muslim peers who are bullied for their differences in belief and dress? Muslim parents must realize that respecting differences is a two-way street. Tehmina Meherali, Woodbridge ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. 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