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rfmcdonaldYesterday morning, while I was riding the subway to work, a brief article originally from the Toronto Star caught my attention. (The complete original is available here, having appeared on the front page of Wednesday's Star below the fold.)
Later that morning, listening to CBC radio in the morning as usual, on the Metro Morning program I heard the host Andy Barrie spoke with parent Yassin Yousef and Alimamy Bangura, a founding member of the Muslim Education Network. The interview is available, as streaming audio, here. Bangura favoured the classes, by analogy to anti-racism education. I'm not at all sure what Yousef wanted, his mumbling aside, as he talked somewhat incoherently about a variety of topics including the school board's lack of consultation with parents and the propagation of the gay lifestyle.
This last criticism--apparently the central one--mystifies me somewhat, inasmuch as the "anti-homophobia education" didn't deal with same-sex families per se but rather with children who have same-sex parents and who have apparently been subject to bullying because of their parents. Surely even people hostile to same-sex marriage and parenting would agree that the children shouldn't be harassed? (I'm a perennial optimist.) Regardless, both Premier McGuinty and the Minister of Education, Gerald Kennedy have both said students will not be exempted on religious grounds.
It's very important to note that the prominence of Muslim parents in the opposition to the anti-bullying seems to be largely a function of the fact that between 10 to 15% of the students at Market Lane Public School are of Muslim religious background.
And indeed, although neither Christianity nor Judaism is uniformly hostile to same-sex parents (and, for that matter, Islam isn't), the Toronto Star's forum on the subject is worth visiting. Most of the people who made posts in this forum hostile to the anti-bullying initiative are not Muslims, but rather Canadians of Christian background.
Homophobia isn't a particularly Muslim issue; it's a general one that, for a variety of contingent circumstances, happens to have stronger-than-average connections with Islam as it exists.
In a cross-cultural clash of family values, Muslim parents at a downtown school want the Toronto District School Board to exclude their children from discussions of same-sex families.
But at a meeting last night, board officials refused to exclude Muslim students at Market Lane Public School from what the board calls "anti-homophobia education."
To allow some students to be removed from those discussions would violate the rights of children of same-sex parents, board officials said.
While the board has a policy to consider accommodation based on religious rights, "religious beliefs do not trump human rights," said Patricia Hayes, a rights expert with the school board.
About 150 parents packed a gym at the St. Lawrence Community Centre last night, but some Muslim parents leaving the meeting said they felt their religious beliefs were receiving less respect than homosexual families.
"They showed a gay lifestyle to the kids without the knowledge of the parents," said Mohamed Yassin, a father of three. "They’re willing to help gay students with support. Gay people have their rights. I have my rights."
Later that morning, listening to CBC radio in the morning as usual, on the Metro Morning program I heard the host Andy Barrie spoke with parent Yassin Yousef and Alimamy Bangura, a founding member of the Muslim Education Network. The interview is available, as streaming audio, here. Bangura favoured the classes, by analogy to anti-racism education. I'm not at all sure what Yousef wanted, his mumbling aside, as he talked somewhat incoherently about a variety of topics including the school board's lack of consultation with parents and the propagation of the gay lifestyle.
This last criticism--apparently the central one--mystifies me somewhat, inasmuch as the "anti-homophobia education" didn't deal with same-sex families per se but rather with children who have same-sex parents and who have apparently been subject to bullying because of their parents. Surely even people hostile to same-sex marriage and parenting would agree that the children shouldn't be harassed? (I'm a perennial optimist.) Regardless, both Premier McGuinty and the Minister of Education, Gerald Kennedy have both said students will not be exempted on religious grounds.
It's very important to note that the prominence of Muslim parents in the opposition to the anti-bullying seems to be largely a function of the fact that between 10 to 15% of the students at Market Lane Public School are of Muslim religious background.
"They are trying to make it a Muslim issue, but a Christian or Jew would feel the same," Omer Amir, a parent of a 5-year-old at the school, said.
And indeed, although neither Christianity nor Judaism is uniformly hostile to same-sex parents (and, for that matter, Islam isn't), the Toronto Star's forum on the subject is worth visiting. Most of the people who made posts in this forum hostile to the anti-bullying initiative are not Muslims, but rather Canadians of Christian background.
Homophobia isn't a particularly Muslim issue; it's a general one that, for a variety of contingent circumstances, happens to have stronger-than-average connections with Islam as it exists.
