TORONTO (LifeSiteNews) — The Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) is recommending its staff watch a pro-LGBT play about a little girl who thinks she is a boy.
Despite the Catholic Church’s condemnation of gender ideology, a January 9 internal email shared with LifeSiteNews shows TCDSB Superintendent of Education, Indigenous Education, Equity, and Community Relations Roy Fernandes encouraging staff to watch “Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls,” a play about a little girl who believes she is actually a boy.
“This poignant play provides a look at the challenges faced by a trans student,” Fernandes said. “I have seen the play and recommend all staff to see it because of the engaging plot line, sensitive portrayal, and high calibre that Roseneath brings to all of their productions.”
According to a description of the play, it recounts the story of a 9-year-old girl named Fiona. At the beginning of the play, the little girl believes she is actually a boy and tells her family that she now wants to be called Fin.
“Fin has always had this feeling – knowing something is different but not knowing what it was or how to say it,” the play summary reads. “As Fin cuts his hair short and changes his name, his family works to understand and adjust to Fin’s gender identity.”
“Dad is accepting of the change right away, but Mom doesn’t quite get it at first,” it continued. “Always from a place of good intentions, we see Fin’s family struggle with this change and through the course of the play ultimately begin to accept and embrace Fin for who he is.”
The play, presented by the Roseneath theater, is aimed at children in grades 4 to 8. The play is scheduled to tour in March 2024. According to Fernandes, the theatre is offering a free preview of the play to TCDSB educators on March 19.
The nominally Catholic association’s promotion of the play is in contradiction to Catholic doctrine. The Catechism of the Catholic Church clearly states that God created humans “male and female” and that, “Everyone, man and woman, should acknowledge and accept his sexual identity,” referring to their God-given identity as male or female.
“Physical, moral, and spiritual difference and complementarity are oriented toward the goods of marriage and the flourishing of family life. The harmony of the couple and of society depends in part on the way in which the complementarity, needs, and mutual support between the sexes are lived out,” the Catechism continues.
“So much for the reassurances we got from Catholic education leaders, and numerous Trustees who still sit on the board, that adding ‘gender identity’ and ‘gender expression’ to the TCDSB’s Code of Conduct would not cause Catholic moral teaching to be undermined,” Jack Fonseca of Campaign Life Coalition told LifeSiteNews.
“Here we have intrinsically sinful behavior, i.e. transvestite dress and the embrace of the transgender lifestyle, being promoted by a Superintendent to all Catholic teachers, urging them to watch this immoral propaganda play,” he continued.
“And of course, the expectation of this anti-Catholic Superintendent is that teachers will arrange for their Catholic students in grades 4 to 8, to eventually watch the play too, thus brainwashing them into rejecting God’s holy word as revealed in the Bible and the teaching of the apostles,” Fonseca warned.
“The Superintendent must be fired for promoting this play,” he declared. “The Director of Education must be fired for allowing it to proceed. And the trustees who told their concerned Catholic voters that the Code of Conduct wouldn’t undermine Catholic teaching in any way, should all hang their heads in shame, and resign.”
“Furthermore, it’s high time we heard some words of correction and condemnation from the new Archbishop who is responsible, according to Canon Law, for maintaining authentic Catholic teaching in the schools of Diocese,” he appealed. “When will Archbishop Leo lay down the law?”
However, this is hardly the first time that the TCDSB promoted the LGBT ideology, despite its contradiction to Catholic teaching.
In November, the TCDSB invited Pro-LGBT Fr. James Martin, SJ, to lecture staff and faculty on how to be “welcoming” to students who identify as “2SLGBTQ+.”
Similarly, on January 16, the TCDSB Women’s Affinity Group is scheduled to host “Women in Education: A Dialogue with Mitzie Hunter on empowering leadership,” featuring anti-family and anti-life former Minister of Education Mitzie Hunter.
To respectfully voice your concerns, please contact:
Archbishop Francis Leo
Phone: (416) 934-0606
Email: [email protected]
Joseph Martino
Ward 1: Etobicoke
Phone: 416-512-3401
Email: [email protected]
Markus de Domenico (Vice-Chair)
Ward 2: Etobicoke
Phone: 416-512-3402
Email: [email protected]
Ida Li Preti
Ward 3: North York
Phone: 416-512-3403
Email: [email protected]
Teresa Lubinski
Ward 4: Parkdale-High Park, Etobicoke-Lakeshore
Phone: 416-512-3404
Email: [email protected]
Maria Rizzo
Ward 5: North York
Phone: 416-512-3405
Email: [email protected]
Frank D’Amico, CD
Ward 6: York
Phone: 416-512-3406
Email: [email protected]
Michael Del Grande
Ward 7: Scarborough-Agincourt
Phone: 416-512-3407
Email: [email protected]
Garry Tanuan
Ward 8: Scarborough
Phone: 416-512-3408
Email: [email protected]
Kevin Morrison
Ward 9: Toronto
Phone: 416-512-3409
Email: [email protected]
Daniel Di Giorgio
Ward 10: Toronto
Phone: 416-512-3410
Email: [email protected]
Angela Kennedy
Ward 11: East York, Toronto
Phone: 416-512-3411
Email: [email protected]
Nancy Crawford (Chair)
Ward 12: Scarborough
Phone: 416-512-3412
Email: [email protected]