MISSISSAUGA, Ontario, June 16, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board signaled last week that they would be open to considering the use of the rainbow, an ancient Judeo-Christian symbol, for school “anti-homophobia” events.
Using the rainbow flag “certainly wouldn’t be outside the realm that is something acceptable to ask,” Bruce Campbell, the board’s spokesman, told the Toronto Star.
The comments came as the board faced heat over a supposed ban on the use of the rainbow, after a rainbow flag was barred from use at Dufferin-Peel’s St. Joseph Catholic Secondary School in Mississauga on June 3rd.
The Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA), which has become infamous for its support of the homosexual agenda, has openly welcomed the use of the rainbow to promote the homosexual cause. “I don’t believe it should make people feel uncomfortable,” James Ryan, OECTA’s president, told the Toronto Star.
But Alan Yoshioka, a former homosexual activist who is now devoutly Catholic and married to a woman, argued in an op-ed for LifeSiteNews on Wednesday that the gay lobby’s use of the rainbow is obviously offensive to Catholics because it uses an ancient sign of God’s covenant with His people to promote “ideologies hostile to Catholic doctrine.”
Yoshioka is the head of a new policy group called Reclaim the Rainbow – Toronto, formed by Catholics who have experience of same-sex attraction and their loved ones, who are dedicated to fighting for the integrity of Catholic teaching in Ontario’s Catholic schools.
See Yoshioka’s op-ed here.
Campbell, however, indicated that while the Dufferin-Peel Catholic school board had some concerns about the flag’s association with the homosexual “pride” movement, it was not actually banned. He said the board had designed its own logo for their Social Justice Week, during which an “anti-homophobia” day took place, and that they had the students use the board’s materials instead. However, a bookmark created for the event did include colored stripes representing a rainbow.
Since March, St. Joseph’s Catholic Secondary School has become a lightning rod for activists seeking to promote the normalization of homosexuality in Ontario’s Catholic school system. The activists have rallied behind 16-year-old student Leanne Iskander, who defied her principal by launching an unofficial gay-straight alliance at the school.
At the June 3rd “anti-homophobia” event, Iskander’s group – which has been allowed to operate under the name “Open Arms” – opted to put rainbows in their cupcakes instead of displaying the rainbow flag they had wanted.
“I thought it was unfair,” Iskander told the Toronto Star. “Rainbows can represent anything — you can’t just ban rainbows.”
The students raised $200 through their cupcake sales, but were prevented from giving the proceeds to the LGBT Youth Line as they had hoped. Instead the funds went to Covenant House, a shelter for homeless youth.
Iskander has launched a group called ‘Catholic Students for GSAs’ and will be taking their cause to the Toronto Pride parade on July 3rd.
The students’ effort has been backed by Queer Ontario, a homosexual lobby group, who supplied them with materials for their display. Casey Oraa, chair of the group’s political action committee, told Xtra! that these materials included a booklet called “Shout Out Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Transphobia, and Heterosexism.” Only some of its materials were permitted at the “anti-homophobia” event.
LifeSiteNews.com did not hear back from the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board by press time.