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Michael Lorsch, Manager of Free the Children's Leadership Programs in Toronto, is an active member of Boylesque, which describes itself as an all-male Burlesque Troupe.

More sexually explicit videos have surfaced of a high profile employee at the popular Canadian charity Free the Children (FTC) performing solo striptease for public audiences. The videos came to light after FTC defended the employee, who works with children during the day and moonlights at night as a gay sex-show performer.

Michael Lorsch, Manager of Free the Children's Leadership Programs in Toronto, is an active member of Boylesque, which describes itself as an all-male Burlesque Troupe that wants to put “male nudity and sexuality back center-stage where it belongs.”

Using the stage name Mickey D Liscious, Mr. Lorsch has been filmed numerous times (WARNING: link opens window to catalogue of explicit videos) performing a complete striptease at Opera Bob's Public House in Toronto since 2011.

Lorsch challenged kids to become ‘shameless idealist’

Mr. Lorsch first began working with FTC in 2012 as a “Leadership Facilitator and Speaker” where he spoke to and worked with an estimated 21,000 young people in schools across Canada. His job at that time also included leading young people on international trips to FTC’s development projects around the world.

He received FTC’s “rookie of the year” award in 2012.

Free the Children, founded in 1995 by Catholic brothers Marc and Craig Keilburger, aims at activating young people to fight poverty and injustice in developing nations. FTC initiatives include the popular “We Day” that rallies thousands of teens from both Catholic and public schools across Canada at emotionally charged events with world-leading speakers.

The charity’s “Me to We” enterprise offers young people leadership camps, seminars, and travel opportunities.

Mr. Lorsch began his new position as FTC’s manager of Leadership Programs in February of this year, a position that has a minimum two-year contract. While directly managing eight staff comprising the “Me to We” Leadership Team, the job continues to put Mr. Lorsch in direct contact with children in schools, in camps, and with those going on trips to overseas destinations.

Responsibilities of the managerial position include among others:

• “Lead trips, academy, and workshops occasionally.”

• “Assist in developing leadership content for academies, trips, customized leadership workshops and in school programs.”

• “Act as a positive professional role model for the staff.”

One of Mr. Lorsch’s primary messages to young people — scripted by FTC — is for them to become a “shameless idealist,” that is, a person who will “stop at nothing to make the world a better place.”

“Shameless idealism is one of the characteristics of our organization,” Lorsch told a Yorkton, Saskatchewan reporter in 2013 after visiting Yorkton Regional High School. “It's in one of our core values of what the organization is about.”

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Lorsch speaks to students at Braemar House School in Brantford.

FTC was looking for someone familiar with ‘diversity’

A 2012 job description of Mr. Lorsch’s current position indicates that FTC had every opportunity to discover who it was hiring.

Successful candidates for the position were required to attend a “culture interview” with the director. Those who made it to the next round would be asked to attend second interview with director of “Me to We” Leadership and the director of “Me to We” Human Resources. Those who make it through this round “might be asked to attend more than 2 interviews.”

The application also states that during the first “culture interview” the candidate would be required to present a program overview for a one day workshop for children “focusing on the theme of diversity.”

Mr. Lorsch has a BA from York University in “Sexuality Studies” as well as a history going back to 2011 of supporting the “LGBT community” at various events throughout Toronto.

On his LinkedIn page, Mr. Lorsch states that his work in social justice and burlesque are not unrelated. After graduating in 2011, he “immediately began work on theatre projects that reflected my dedication to personal exploration and it's [sic] relation to social justice.”

“Since then I've found a passion for the political, speaking at various events throughout the city in support of the arts, the LGBT community, and against socially irresponsible municipal politics.”

“It was this work that led me to work with Me to We,” he states.

FTC’s job application for Mr. Lorsch’s current position makes it clear that a candidate’s “personal values” are a significant part of being hired.

“If…your personal values align with our core values, we would love to hear from you,” the job application states.

Executive director of FTC, Scott Baker, has defended Mr. Lorsch’s role in the organization, stating that all employees are “vetted through police checks, reference checks and extensive interviews,” as LifeSiteNews reported Thursday.

Baker added that FTC does not “pass judgment on the private lives of our employees, stakeholders or supporters” and that it is an “apolitical organization that does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, religion or sexual orientation.”

According to FTC’s manager job description, Mr. Lorsch has a six month probationary period that ends in August.

The Keilburgers have been criticized for their waffling views on abortion, for stocking and providing contraceptives in their overseas health clinics, and for championing “family planning.” So far, however, none of Ontario’s Catholic school boards have dropped their partnerships with the controversial charity.
 

Contact:

Free the Children
233 Carlton Street
Toronto, Ontario M5A 2L2
Tel: 1.416.925.5894
Fax: 1.416.925.8242
[email protected]