So the Ontario Catholic School Trustees Association released the guidelines for starting GSA groups, albeit five months after they said they would. September, January . . . practically the exact same time, really.
The weird thing is, they really aren’t so much “guidelines” as they are “stick your fingers in your ears and go ‘lalalalalala’ whenever gayness is mentioned,” which kind of defeats the purpose. Last time I checked, guidelines were more or less basic parameters into which you would form a group, activity or organization. This is really more along the lines of completely erasing the actual purpose of the organization and burying the possibility of honest discourse and support for those still treated as second-class citizens in an unmarked grave. See how that’s kind of the opposite of a guideline?
Look, OCSTA (what an awkward acronym . . .), a guideline for a GSA might be something like “no defamatory language,” or “keep all rebuttals and statements factually true,” or even “no food in the GSA lounge, because that’s how you get ants.” It’s not “no gays allowed in the GSA; also, no GSAs.” That’s like if someone tried to start a soccer game and then you stepped in to say, “All right, but you can’t use your feet, only your hands. Also, the net is now suspended in the air and you all have to play basketball. Now everyone go inside and stare at a blank wall.” It defeats the purpose of something that was intended only to bring people together.
You’re not dumb people; if you were, you wouldn’t be involved with the education of kids. But you’re clinging so aggressively to these arbitrary rules and judgment calls about which parts of the Bible to follow and which parts to just sort of ignore because they contradict your personal beliefs that not only are you completely defeating the purpose of GSAs, but you’re defeating the purpose of your own religion. Remember “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”?
THAT is a guideline. Try following it.
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