Discrimination is never OK: An opinion piece

By: Chris Rider, Executive Director

Vanier College. Image courtesy of Yukon News.

I wanted to write briefly about the controversy surrounding Vanier Catholic Secondary School and their LGBT policy document. Like many, I’ve found myself shocked by the language and attitude displayed in the schools guidelines. To say the sentiments are “regressive” is somewhat of an understatement. No one choses to be Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual or Transgender any more than anyone choses to be straight. It is certainly not a “disease” or “weakness” that could be compared to diabetes or poor eyesight! No one’s sexual identity is any better or worse than any other and the differences are what makes society so wonderful and interesting.

Our high school years are full of change. Physically and emotionally, a young person is developing. You arrive at high school in early adolescence and leave at late adolescence, with a remarkable amount of growth (both literally and figuratively) in between. It’s during these years that young people grow into their sexuality and come to realise who they are. By the time they do, most are already locked in to the school that their parents sent them to at age 12.

When a young person begins to realise that they are LGBT, if they’ve been told that the feelings they’re experiencing are “contrary to the natural law”, a perfectly normal coming out process is likely to cause a lot of distress. To make matters worse, many youth have parents who add to this distress by saying similarly derogatory things or by rejecting them outright. My point with this is that “if you don’t like Vanier’s policies, then just switch schools” is not a luxury many LGBT youth have. That’s why it’s so important for the school environment to be a supportive one for youth of all sexualities.

I’ve read that many teachers don’t agree with the policy. Apparently they have ignored the teachings that homosexuality can be condoned “under no circumstances” and have given youth all the support that they need. These teachers are to be applauded for all of their work, but it’s not enough. As long as a bigoted policy is allowed to exist, it will infect the school to the core no matter how many good people stand against it.

Well done to Education Minister Scott Kent for asking Vanier to remove the policy. I’m extremely happy to see our politicians stand for equality. His recent statement that the document doesn’t meet government standards sends the right message. I was disappointed to read Bishop Gordon’s response that the policy will “still guide teachers at the school” and I hope Minister Kent has the strength to stand up and enforce the standards of equality that Yukoners expect from our government.

Also, well done to Jesse Winters from Yukon News, who brought this to people’s attention last week. Lastly, I’d like to commend amazing young people like Liam Finnegan and Shara Layne, who were strong enough to stand up for who they are.

To be a good person is about your actions and how you treat others, not who you’re attracted to. By telling LGBT people that they are less valid or somehow “depraved”, the bishop has shown himself to be a less kind person than he’d have himself believe.