Sexual and Gender Diversity in Schools: An Introduction

In Canada in the mid-sixties, homosexuality was deemed illegal by the courts, 1 sinful by religious institutions, 2 and a sign of illness by the mental-health establishment. 3 A battle against these indictments has raged relentlessly over the past fifty years.Reform began in 1967 when then Justice Minister Pierre Trudeau famously proclaimed that "…there's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation….what'sdone in private between adults doesn't concern the Criminal Code." 4 His proposed amendments to the Criminal Code were passed in 1969.All provinces now specify "sexual orientation" as a prohibited ground for discrimination.5 Many Christian churches have retreated from fundamentalist positions, 6 and millions of 1 In 1965, Everett Klippert acknowledged to police that he was gay, had had sex with men over a 24-year period, and was unlikely to change.A psychiatrist testified that Klippert was "an incorrigible homosexual."In 1967, he was sent to prison indefinitely as a "dangerous sex offender," a sentence that was upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada that same year.He was the last person in Canada to be arrested, charged, prosecuted, convicted, and imprisoned for homosexuality. 2 The most definitive statements of this position can be found in missives produced by the Vatican which have not been substantially revised over the last forty years.These documents constrain Catholic school boards in Canada when faced by activist students and impatient provincial legislatures.For example, in order to defend itself from impending legislation, the Ontario Catholic School Trustees' Association produced a document entitled "Respecting Difference" (2012) which refers to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1997) as the "primary teaching document of the Church."The "Catechism" is a guide on how to see the world and "to live as a good Catholic."Homosexual acts are described as "intrinsically disordered," "contrary to the natural law," "do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity," and "under no circumstances can they be approved."This passage draws on Persona Humana (1975) and reiterates the view that homosexual acts are a "serious depravity" and "intrinsically disordered."To clarify some issues pertaining to pastoral care, the Vatican issued a letter in 1986 which repeated the line taken in Persona Humana: the inclination of a homosexual person "must be seen as an objective disorder"; "living out of this orientation in homosexual activity is [not a] morally acceptable option"; and an "authentic pastoral programme" must state clearly "that homosexual activity is immoral." 3 Beginning in 1952, the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-I) classified homosexuality as a mental illness.Before then, psychiatrists and psychologists looked at homosexuality as a perversion and a deviant behaviour, but the idea that it was a mental illness was considerably more controversial.4 Trudeau made these remarks in defence of the omnibus bill to reform the Criminal Code (Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968-69, S.C. 1968-69, c. 38). 5 In 1977, Quebec included sexual orientation in its human rights code making it the first province in Canada-in fact, the first jurisdiction in the world larger than a city or county-to pass such a civil rights law.Other provinces followed suit, some reluctantly (Ontario, 1986; Manitoba, 1987; Yukon,

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