In a rally outside the TVDSB, more than 1,500 protesters and counterprotesters expressed their disapproval and support for LGBTQ2+ education policy. Due to traffic problems, around 100 London police officers were on the scene and requested drivers take another route. As a result, the nearby public French school was closed for the day.
Organizer and protest Richelle Prenty says this topic should not be a part of children’s study schedule.
“Parents should mind their own children. The school board knows that parents know best for their children,” Prenty says. “Gender ideology curriculum is not what we as parents want.”
Prenty says that parents and teachers cannot speak out without suffering consequences, so they gave them a voice in the protest so that every voice is heard throughout the student body.
“Schools should teach facts and not ideologies,” Prenty says. “Parents are willing to stand for their children and get an opportunity to do so.”
To support all students, frontline educators participated in the counter-protests.
At least 80 cities throughout Canada participated in the so-called “1 Million March 4 Children” rallies organized by Our Duty Canada, one of which was held in front of the school board’s offices on Dundas Street East.
“Due to a planned protest march, traffic on Dundas St. from Florence St. to Ashland Ave, and traffic northbound and southbound on Highbury Ave North between Dundas and Oxford streets may be impacted. Police are asking the public to find alternate routes,” London police wrote on Twitter.
Organizer and counter-protest Sista Patricia says they were counter-protesting the hate on the other side of the street from the protestors.
“You know, there is a group across the street that does not want queer youth to have any rights,” Patricia says. “They demand that trans kids not have the right to be safe at school.”
Patricia says that the suicide rate of trans kids is high, and it is “heartbreaking.” She adds that they resort to more dangerous activities by restricting people from being themselves.
“We want the school boards to recognize that the schools need to be safe for trans kids because many of them cannot come out at home,” Patricia says.
Patricia says every kid needs to be somewhere safe and that any public building has the right to be a safe place for children, no matter what.
“The word sex should never be used in any way with a child,” Prenty says. “We are accountable for raising our kids. Sex education is far too extensive, and they are far too young.
Patricia says that the situation of society has gone backwards because there is a lot more hate and division nowadays than there used to be before. She adds that she wants to send a strong message to the school boards, the libraries, and the whole community that she, alongside her colleagues, will always protect trans kids.
The school board stated that under the Ontario Human Rights Code, the board has a “legal and moral responsibility to promote equity, inclusion, and human rights” and that the safety and well-being of all faculty, staff, and students is a top priority.
Watch below for more details:
