All Posts Tagged With: "homophobia"
Jewish groups call for cancellation of Muslim seminars at U of T
Would that stop hate or stifle free speech?
Photo by mrehan on Flickr
Jewish organizations are calling on the University of Toronto to cancel an 18-week seminar series led by Toronto-based Islamic scholar Abdullah Hakim Quick. They say Quick has made homophobic and antisemitic comments in the past and should not be allowed to speak on campus.
The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC), Hillel of Greater Toronto and other Jewish groups have expressed their concerns to U of T, reports The Canadian Jewish News.
“The unfortunate truth is that when you have speakers like this, that are divisive, it hurts communities,” says Avi Benlolo, President of the FSWC. “We hope that the unviersity will make the right decision to cancel it or put it on hold pending review,” he adds.
U of T spokesperson April Kemick told CJN that the “event is a booking by a campus group—one of hundreds that happen over the course of the year—and there is no connection to the university.”
Continue reading Jewish groups call for cancellation of Muslim seminars at U of T
Homophobia still rampant in schools
Study finds many LGBTQ students feel unsafe
Taunts and insults are a daily occurrence for many students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, two-spirited, queer or questioning (LGBTQ). This is one of the several unsettling findings in a national study lead by University of Winnipeg professor Catherine Taylor, with funding from anti-homophobia human rights organization Egale Canada.
The study, Every Class in Every School: Egale’s Final Report on Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia in Canadian Schools surveyed over 3 700 students between 2007 and 2009 from across Canada. The report found that 64 per cent of LGBTQ students reported feeling unsafe at school, while 21 per cent reported being physical harassed or assaulted.
“What is striking is the gap students are experiencing between official school curriculum, which emphasizes human rights and diversity, and the curriculum of the hallways, where LGBTQ students feel unsafe, insulted or harassed,” Taylor said in a press release issued by the U of W.
“Students also see adults, including teachers, looking the other way rather than dealing with homophobic comments, and they express profound disappointment and cynicism about the adult world.”
Homophobic slurs were heard every day at school by 48 per cent of students surveyed, while 70 per cent of students reported hearing expressions such as ‘that’s so gay’ at school on a daily basis. Nearly 10 per cent of students who identified as LGBTQ reported hearing homophobic comments on a daily or weekly basis from teachers at their school.
58 per cent of straight students said they were upset by the homophobic comments prevalent in their schools. “What that tells me is there is a great deal of untapped solidarity in students, and that the public school culture can change,” Taylor said.
The report also found that LGBTQ students attending schools that had anti-homophobia policies were less likely to be victims of verbal or physical abuse at school. However, the report also states that LGBTQ students in schools with such policies “did not report significantly higher levels of feeling safe at school with regard to gender identity and gender expression.”
“This indicates a need to explicitly address gender identity, gender expression, and anti- transphobia in school and school board safer schools and equity and inclusive education policies.”
Don’t say ‘GSA’
Ontario Catholic schools will create anti-bullying clubs that definitely won’t be called ‘gay-straight alliances’
Let’s embark upon a little thought experiment, shall we? Suppose Johnny B. Seventh-Grader is being bullied mercilessly for his fiery red hair. “Ginger!” the kids call him. “Freak of nature!” they say. “You have no soul!” And so forth. Johnny, feeling ostracized and alone, looks to his school’s administration for support. Naturally, one would assume, resources would be available for our redheaded friend. After all, the school—a public institution—is part of a society where reds have the right to live freely from discrimination. Redheaded people can work in Canada, they can own property, they can vote, hell—they can even marry! So the school, you would expect, would be compelled to foster an environment of inclusion. Johnny’s principal hears his plight, and, in an effort to change the culture of taboo brewing around redheads, she creates a school club called, “It’s OK to be R**.” What’s wrong, Johnny? Don’t you feel more accepted?
The Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association (OCSTA) is doing the same sort of semantic dance when it comes to naming its new anti-bullying groups, created in response to requests for gay-straight alliances in Catholic schools. A reporter from Xtra, a national gay and lesbian newspaper, spoke with OCSTA president Nancy Kirby, who told her the new groups will not be called gay-straight alliances:
“When I look at a gay-straight alliance, I see an activist group,” [Kirby said]. We are answering the students’ request for support and assistance, not for activism. Students don’t want to become activists; they want to be supported in being bullied by their peers.”
Is standing up against anti-gay bullying not activism? “In some ways it could be and in other ways it isn’t,” she says. The groups will all have a “common name.”
That’s right—no activism allowed! On a side note, Kirby should probably look into St. Joseph Secondary School, where a lot of this GSA talk originated, because the school apparently has a Solidarity Action Committee “committed to creating a just world by working for peace, fairness and equality everywhere.” Sounds like trouble to me…
According to the Xtra article, students at St Joseph Catholic Secondary School chose the name “Rainbow Alliance” for their club, but the school principal rejected the suggestion, allegedly telling student Leanne Iskander that the name was “too LGBT-sounding.” In related news, word has not yet been confirmed on rumours of whether the school will, in fact, change the name of the cartons of “homogenized milk” sold in the school’s cafeteria.
If the administration’s aim was really to create a safe, inclusive environment for gay and lesbian youth at its schools, it would have no qualms with having “gay words” in the title of the anti-bullying club. Its wavering, however, suggests otherwise. Just another reason why the public dollar should not be supporting a system that puts religious doctrine before students welfare. And oh yeah: down with Gingers.
