HAMILTON, Ontario (LifeSiteNews) – A Catholic school board in Ontario has voted to fly the pro-homosexual rainbow flag outside all of its school buildings during June in honor of so-called LGBT “pride month.”
In a 6–3 vote, the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board (HWCDSB) in Ontario passed a motion on March 1 to fly the rainbow banner outside of their schools to recognize the homosexual lifestyle-affirming movement, standing directly against the Catholic teaching supposedly upheld by the school’s administrators.
Board trustee Mark Valvasori – who unsuccessfully proposed the motion to the board last year – told board members at the March 1 meeting that, despite the “polarizing” nature of the anti-Catholic LGBT movement, embracing its symbols is for the benefit of pupils.
“[The] motion is all about the kids,” Valvasori insisted.
The trustee vented his frustration with the “tone and content” of what he described as “repulsive” and “insulting” opposition to the flying of the so-called “pride flag,” while denigrating the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) as using “descriptors that could upset many people – especially kids” on the topic of homosexuality.
Traditional Catholic doctrine contradicts the position of LGBT pride, holding that homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered,” and that they “do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity.”
“Under no circumstances can they be approved,” the CCC reads.
However, the catechism also affirms that the homosexual inclination, “which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity.”
“Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided.”
In addition to contradicting the Catholic teaching on human sexuality, the term “pride” in salvation history denotes an explicit refusal to follow God and God’s law. Raising the pride flag thus denies the Catholic faith the school purports to uphold.
While the HWCDSB claims its vision is to “enable all learners to realize the fullness of humanity of which Our Lord Jesus Christ is the model” and enable the 40,000 students under its care to “demonstrate knowledge and practice of their Catholic Faith,” Valvasori convinced the board to support the LGBT agenda.
Rather than relying on the historic teaching of the Church, Valvasori pleaded with board members to sympathise with the feelings of students battling with same-sex attraction.
“Imagine for a second that a young student at a Catholic school, who is struggling to reconcile their own feelings about their sexuality with their Catholicity; they may need support,” Valvasori argued.
He added that if such a student “hears or reads about what should happen to them if they reveal their (sexuality) — discussions about flag flying tend to bring about those who demonize them — using terms that may actually frighten them.”
“So this motion is not meant as condemnation or support of either side of this issue,” he said. “It’s strictly for the kids. We can’t forget about students, and we can’t forget about our staff.”
Concluding his case, Valvasori urged board members to “show some love and acceptance by simply flying the Pride Flag in June.”
Last year, after defeating the motion to fly the flag, HWCDSB chairman Pat Daly said in a statement that instead of narrowly supporting the LGBT cause, the school already showed solidarity with all Canadians by flying both the national flag and displaying the Christian cross.
Reaffirming this defence, Daly said that “[o]ur premises centre not only on creating an environment of equity and inclusivity, but a way of living [which is] best expressed in our most fundamental Catholic symbol, the cross.”
Daly noted that, “after considerable discernment and prayer,” he would be voting against the motion “solely out of my belief that … we need to be promoting the Catholic identity … and that identity is placed in Christ and the teachings of the Catholic church.”
While the school district did not support the LGBT agenda in 2021, neither would it stand for “[b]ullying or rejection on the basis of sexual orientation, gender, appearance, race, religion, economic status, ability or any other reason,” Daly wrote at the time
HWCDSB’s decision follows that of fellow Ontario school system Halton Catholic District School Board, which in January voted to erect the “pride flag” during the month of June later this year.
Father Cornelius O’Mahony, the Episcopal Vicar for Education for the Catholic Partners of the Diocese of Hamilton, last year drafted a document defending the “pride flag” as representing “diverse people who come together to form something beautiful (the rainbow).”
LifeSiteNews contacted the HWCDSB for further comment but was simply redirected to what was said at the board meeting.