TORONTO, Ontario, October 4, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An Ontario Tory Party flyer criticizing early sex ed, including the promotion of Gay Pride parades for kindergartners, is “homophobic,” charged Dalton McGuinty’s Liberals on Monday.
But critics say that the flyer makes no comments that could be deemed disrespectful to homosexuals, but merely raises objections to exposing young children to sexually explicit material. If McGuinty is charging the flyer is homophobic, then many Ontario parents are being cast as ‘homophobic’ themselves, they say.
The flyer, endorsed by Tim Hudak’s Progressive Conservative Party, targets the Toronto District School Board’s controversial “anti-homophobia” curriculum that begins discussing homosexual families in kindergarten with teachers reading “Gloria Goes to Gay Pride,” and aims to transform students into social activists by the end of high school.
That curriculum shocked parents last spring in particular because it explicitly forbids parents from opting their kids out of the controversial classes and advises schools not to alert parents in advance.
The Tory flyer was distributed over the weekend in some GTA ridings and has stirred controversy in the lead-up to Thursday’s election.
“The desperate Hudak campaign has resorted to outright lies and manipulation,” claimed the Liberals on Monday. “The PCs have been distributing a disgusting, homophobic flyer.”
But Hudak has stood by the document, turning it back on McGuinty.
“I think the only person who has explaining to do is Dalton McGuinty, who wants to bring in sex-ed curriculum that starts in Grade One when kids are six years old,” said Hudak. “And then on top of that, he wants to keep these things hidden from mums and dads. I think that’s wrong.”
Dr. Charles McVety, head of the Institute for Canadian Values, said the Liberals’ accusation that the flyer is ‘homophobic’ is an “attack” on parents who object to such controversial curriculum.
“To teach this stuff to little boys and girls is contrary to what parents want, many parents, I dare say most parents,” McVety told LifeSiteNews. “It is bullying parents. If you object to what we’re doing to your children, we will name-call you, we will attack you.”
Vince Agovino, Tory candidate for Willowdale, was one of those who distributed the flyer. In an accompanying letter, he highlighted quotes from Transport Minister Kathleen Wynne to Xtra that he says signalled a Liberal government “would continue promoting an agenda that promoted these [gay-straight alliance] clubs in Catholic schools.”
“We cannot dismiss these comments as the musings of but one Liberal Cabinet Minister,” he said. “This election is important for many reasons, and surely the future of parental rights and our children’s education is foremost among them.”
The flyer includes several direct quotes from the curriculum, such as:
“Read some traditional folk tales and fairy tales with the class. Have students write/illustrate their own ‘gender-bending’ versions.”
“Reclaim Valentine’s Day and celebrate sexual diversity [with a] kissing booth.”
“Don’t want this for your kids?” ask the Tories. “Parents don’t have a say. … On October 6th, vote against the McGuinty agenda.”
The Liberals have pointed out that much of the TDSB curriculum is the same as when the Tories were in office. But one key change is the addition of the policy forbidding parents to opt their children out.
They have also emphasized that the TDSB curriculum is distinct from the controversial sex ed curriculum that the McGuinty government shelved last year and intends to bring back in modified form.
But while the TDSB curriculum was not produced by the Ministry of Education, McVety said they are nevertheless responsible for it. “It is one hundred percent under the purview of the Minister of Education,” he said. “It is the Toronto version of the provincial curriculum and must be approved by the Ministry.”
LifeSiteNews did not hear back from the Ontario Liberals by press time.