Syed Jawed Anwar

(Note: This column has been written several months ago but it was not posted by mistake.)

IN Ontario Progressive Conservative (PC) leadership election TV debate, the sex-ed curriculum issue has been highlighted. From the “re-considering” the sex-ed curriculum stance by Doug Ford and Christine Elliot in the beginning, we have arrived at is promises of “repealing” and “scraping” the curriculum by Doug Ford and Tanya Granic Allen.

Doug Ford conducted a poll on Facebook on the issue; 59% was in favour of repealing the curriculum completely. The newspapers “Toronto Star” and “Toronto Sun” conducted polls in 2015 after new sex-ed curriculum; the overwhelming majority (more than 70%) said “no” to the curriculum.

Kathleen Wynne’s propaganda of parents’ consent was completely false. Thorncliffe Park Public School is the largest elementary school of North America. Not a single parent was consulted. I was involved in the school council from 2009 to 2011 as a chair and co-chair (elected by the votes cast by 300+ parents).  Since then, all involved in the council are my friends. No one was ever consulted. She may have consulted the minority lifestyle community to which she belongs; however, parents of Ontario rejected it. They still reject it.

Doug Ford announced Sunday, February 18, in Thornclife Park, organized by Thorncliffe Park community, that he is going to repeal the sex-ed curriculum immediately after elected and forming the Ontario government.

Ford first floated the idea of reopening the debate over sex-education curriculum soon after he announced on January 29 that he was running for leader. Now he's formally made it part of his platform.

"Sex-ed curriculum should be about facts, not teaching Liberal ideology," said Ford, speaking outside a Catholic high school in the beginning of his campaign.

Mr. Ford said he would "stand for parents" having the first and final say about what their kids were taught in the schools.

Christine Elliott said she believes sex education should be taught in schools but agrees with Ford that Wynne's government didn't consult enough with parents.

However, scraping and repealing “Sex-Ed Curriculum” is not enough in presence of The Challenging Homophobia and Heterosexism  K-12 Curriculum Resource Guide.

Not a single leader is considering the impact and guidelines document to implement after Bill 13 (New Accepting Education Guide) passed on June 2012 from Ontario Legislative Assembly. Several protest rallies were organized at Queens Park in 2011-12. As-Seerah education movement was started at the time.

Our analysis:

The document is a hundred times more harmful than the newly revised radical sex-ed curriculum. For the sex-ed there is provision of exemption by parent’s request. But parents have no choice in the above-mentioned curriculum resource guide. Principals were advised by the board not to inform the parents about sensitive parts of the curriculum. This curriculum document is social engineering and rebellious to nature, and to God the Creator. It is an effort to brainwash the children and create gender confusion in the young minds of children from elementary, from KG. Ministry of Education and Toronto School Board removed the docs from their websites after severe criticism from parents. However, the document is available in the school, and it is implemented in all public-funded schools of Ontario.

1. The document promises to change the “attitude” of the people. That means all the teachings --moral, spiritual, approach or attitude-- that confronts homosexuality will be altered and fixed.
2. The document asks schools to open homosexual student clubs. These clubs are called Gay-Straight Alliances (GSA) although the bill permits similar clubs by other names.
3. The document expects teachers to promote the concept of “gender-fluidity” as early as kindergarten. This is the disputed notion that a child’s gender is not necessarily connectedto anatomy and that it’s perfectly normal for little boys to think they’re little girls, and vice-versa. The gay equity curriculum describes gender as being socially constructed. The document redefines gender to consist not only of male or female, but to also include the disputed seven gender theory of LGBTTIQ, which stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, two-spirited, intersexed, and queer. This means that now your children are going to learn the Seven Gender Theory more comprehensively and in more detail from as early as grade three. Teachers’ training videos are available to teach same-sex theory for KG and grade one class.
4. The document uses controversial theories such as “heterosexism,” a term used to humiliate the parents, particularly those with any religious and family beliefs. Heterosexism means a prejudiced attitude of heterosexuals (straights) against homosexuals. According to the document “heterosexism” seems the biggest “sin” and “crime” in the Ontario schools.
5. The document guides indoctrination of seven sex (rainbow) theory that will be introduced through books, flyers, different awareness programs and campaigns, external presentations, lessons, extracurricular activities to normalize homosexual marriage and lifestyle of any kind of sexual perversions.
6. The gay equity curriculum being codified in law recommends that all schools, including Catholic, participate in the gay pride parade. The Toronto District School Board has written into its Equity & Inclusive Education policy that teachers ought to get grade 3 children to cut out images from the gay pride parade, and to hold their own gay pride parade in the school. Catholic schools have to follow the same.
7. The document used a term taken straight from the lexicon of the gay lobby: “homophobia.” As a matter of fact,‘homophobia’ is a propaganda term designed to marginalize religion and religious groups. Ministry of Education defines homophobia as a disparaging or hostile attitude or a negative bias which may be overt or unspoken and which may exist at an individual and/or a systematic level, towards people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered (LGBT).

Make no mistake; Al-Quran, Bible, Torah, Talmud, Gospels, New and Old Testaments, Vedas, Guru Granth Sahib, Vinaya Pitaka, and all other Scriptures that promote family life and dislikes unnatural behavior of homosexuality will be declared/considered a homophobic literature, and propagators and preachers of  these scriptures will be declared/considered “homophobes” and “heterosexist.”

This document is unacceptable for all faith groups. It has to be scraped from the new sex-ed curriculum.

(Syed Jawed Anwar can be reached at jawed@seerahwest.com)