Walk-Outs and ‘Pray-Ins’ Opposing Pride Month Kick Off in Schools Across Canada

Participants of one of Campaign Life Coalition's several pray-ins nationwide stand outside Bishop Douglas Crosby's office in Hamilton, Ont., on June 1, 2023. (Courtesy of Campaign Life Coalition)

TORONTO—As Pride Month kicked off on June 1, many Christians in Canada kept their children home from school to avoid events that don’t align with their faith.

A mother with a son in the York Catholic District School Board (YCDSB) in Aurora, Ont., pulled him out of school June 1 when she heard Pride Month was being celebrated in his high school, despite a much-publicized decision by the board not to fly the pride flag this month.

“You don’t need to raise some students by putting others down,” she told The Epoch Times. She preferred to give a pseudonym, Anna, to protect her son’s privacy. Anna is raising her son to have compassion for all people, she said, but to adhere to the Catholic faith’s view of marriage and sexuality—a view she sees as under attack even in the Catholic school system.

Pride flags were put up all around his school on June 1, despite a communication from the YCDSB chair to parents that the flags would not be present on YCDSB property. A booth was also set up to give students temporary pride tattoos.

Anna’s son told her some students pulled the flags down and got in trouble for it. The Epoch Times reached out to the school but did not receive a response as of publication.

Anna is considering keeping him home for the rest of the school year, and she knows other parents thinking the same way as Pride Month has manifested in various ways at the school.

A grandmother whose grandchildren are in a French Catholic board in North York, Ont., Conseil Scolaire Catholique MonAvenir, told The Epoch Times her grandchildren stayed home June 1 and may stay home for the rest of the month.

The French Catholic board voted May 31 in favour of raising the pride flag for the month, and the grandmother—who preferred to give only first name, Sandra—said the crowd gathered at the meeting was incensed.

“It helped spark a fire in everyone who attended,” she said. “My daughter, who thought their school board was insulated from this … is getting a rude awakening.”

The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board reported that nine of its schools had absent rates over 40 percent on June 1 and two schools had rates higher than 60 percent, according to CTV News. The board said many parents informed the schools their children would be absent because of pride events.

National Walk-Out

Campaign Life Coalition (CLC), a national Christian organization, led school walk-outs in six provinces and one territory on June 1.

“Although school officials justify flying this controversial symbol as a way to promote ‘inclusion,’ it does the exact opposite for many children and their families,” says a CLC petition against pride flag raisings at schools.

“[It] makes many children of Christian, Muslim, Sikh, Jewish and other faith or cultural beliefs, feel uncomfortable,” CLC said, noting that it has heard from students singled out by school staff and peers for not actively participating in pride events for reasons of faith.

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

CLC’s petition against raising the flag at schools has more than 14,500 signatures of its 15,000 goal, with about 3,000 received just on June 1.

Gregory Tomchyshyn attended one of the “pray-ins” also organized by CLC on June 1, near Yonge and Bloor in Toronto. Tomchyshyn is a campaigner for CitizenGo, a conservative crowdfunding platform that partnered with CLC on the June 1 event.

“We will lobby government officials and decision makers to take a stand for the values that build up Canada, that would be her Christian roots and values like life, family, and freedom,” Tomchyschyn told The Epoch Times. “We’re really concerned about the education and radical sex ed that’s been happening in schools over the last couple of years. It’s leading to a lot more confusion in society and within the world.”

Another national walk-out is planned for June 9, called Canadian Parents’ Rights Day of Action. “Your children are no longer safe in Canadian schools,” its website says, and advocates for “education not indoctrination.”

Some parents told The Epoch Times they weren’t sure what exactly was happening at their children’s schools for Pride Month despite having inquired. For example, a parent at the Ottawa Carleton District School Board, who gave the pseudonym William to protect his child’s privacy, had not received a clear response from his child’s principal as of June 2 regarding planned events.

Last year, his child’s kindergarten class was read a book about sexual identity during Pride Month.

Pride Month Advocates

Advocates for Pride Month events argue that LGBTQ students experience exclusion and school events and flag-raisings show support for them.

“We have heard through the tears of children that they do not feel loved, welcomed, and safe,” Carol Cotton, a trustee at the YCDSB, said at a May 29 meeting where the board voted 6–4 against flying the flag. Cotton was in favour of flying the flag.

Chair Frank S.D. Alexander, who voted against flying the flag, sent a letter out to families on May 30 saying the board stands against hatred and will make efforts to combat bullying, including against LGBTQ students.

But, he said, the board decided “to maintain our long-standing policy of only flying Canadian flags on YCDSB property, in order to equally represent all of the YCDSB’s many communities.”

A view outside York Catholic District School Board headquarters with Cardinal Carter Catholic High School in the background in Aurora, Ont., on May 29, 2023, when the board voted not to fly the pride flag. (Tara MacIsaac/The Epoch Times)

Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce sent a memo to school boards on May 30 saying he expects all publicly funded schools to celebrate Pride Month. The memo did not direct boards specifically to fly pride flags.

“It is incumbent on all school boards to ensure all students—most especially 2SLGBTQ+ students—feel supported, reflected in their schools, and welcomed within our communities. 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,” Lecce said.

Looking to Faith

As Ontario’s publicly funded Catholic system faces pressure to celebrate Pride Month, CLC’s Education and Advocacy Director Josie Lutke told The Epoch Times she would like to see a stronger stance from the province’s bishops.

“We’re looking for stronger messaging [from the bishops],” she said at the pray-in in Toronto June 1.

The Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario did not reply to an Epoch Times request for comment as of publication.

A May 24 statement by Bishop Ronald P. Fabbro of London, Ont., said Catholic schools should “treat all people with respect” and welcome all, but should refrain from flying the pride flag “because of the confusion it causes in the minds of the faithful.”

Lutke said the Muslim community has also been “very supportive” of CLC’s efforts to “restore traditional family values.”