Catholic parents’ group: trustees obliged to refuse to implement Gay-Straight Alliances
Dalton McGuiny (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) A Catholic parents’ group is urging Catholic trustees to refuse to comply with Ontario ’s anti-bullying law that forces Gay-Straight-Alliance clubs (GSAs) into separate schools. Instead the parents are asking trustees to follow the bishops’ “Respecting Difference” strategy for tackling bullying. “A legal opinion we obtained [from lawyer Geoff Cauchi of RZCD Law Firm] argues Catholic trustees are obliged to refuse to implement Gay-Straight Alliances in Catholic schools ,” said Teresa Pierre, head of Parents As First Educators (PAFE), at a news conference in Toronto on Thursday. “Trustees have the legal right to avoid anything that would undermine the school’s religious character.” Pierre called portions of the anti-bullying Bill 13 “unnecessary and unconstitutional” in a press release , arguing that mandatory GSAs “undermine” the Church’s teachings on the purpose of “sex and family” and forces Catholic schools to “violate” constitu