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KINGSTON, Ontario (LifeSiteNews) – An Ontario school superintendent has told a concerned mother that she can take her kids out of the school her taxes support.
On Monday, April 29, Scot Gillam, one of several superintendents of the Limestone District School Board, wrote to Kate O’Kane, the mother of two boys suspended for expressing their belief that there are “only two genders” on their clothing.
“If your son(s) continue to wear clothing that depicts language that could harm students in our school, they will be asked to cover up the clothing or remove the clothing,” he wrote. “If they don’t comply, the school will follow provincial legislation, and Limestone District School Board (LDSB) admin procedures, and they will be removed from the building through progressive discipline. This matter is not up for debate and no amount of information shared by you will change this.”
Gillam added, “You do have the option to remove your children from public education if the information below is not substantial enough for you to understand our position, which is the position of the LDSB Board of Trustees, the Ministry of Education, and the Province of Ontario.”
Kate O’Kane, the mother of five, has four children in the Limestone District School Board’s Granite Ridge Education Centre. She suspected that her son Malachy would meet resistance when he first wore a hooded sweatshirt with the motto “There are only two genders” to school, but she supported his wish to express his beliefs. She has told her children’s principal, vice-principal, and school superintendent that expressing “there are only two genders” does not endanger anyone. She has also argued that “there are only two genders” is a religious belief. Her arguments, however, have fallen on deaf ears.
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“The LDSB is guided by obligations under the Ontario Human Rights Code which provides protection against discrimination based on the enumerated grounds in the Code,” Gillam wrote in his April 29 email. “The Code clearly states that every person has a right to equal respect to treatment without discrimination because of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identify, gender expression, age, marital status, family status or disability” (emphasis Gillam’s own).
“When your son wears a shirt that states ‘There are only two genders,’ you are causing harm to students and staff who have the right to work and attend a school and be assured of their safety, regardless of their gender identity or gender expression, and your son is contravening the Ontario Human Rights Code,” he continued.
As a matter of fact, the Ontario Human Rights Code does not ban the expression of the belief that “there are only two genders” (or a statement of the scientific fact that there are only two sexes). Moreover, Gillam did not stipulate what harm students and staff might suffer from an encounter with this idea; he merely stated that it was “unacceptable.”
“This harm is unacceptable and does not infringe upon your son’s right to religious freedoms,” Gillam wrote. “Your family is free to believe whatever they want, and to follow whatever religion they choose. What you, and your son(s) can’t do in a public school, is engage in activities that could cause harm to individuals protected under the Ontario Human Rights Code.”
The O’Kanes are Roman Catholics. Like the vast majority of people throughout history, faithful Catholics believe that human beings are either male or female, however they choose to present themselves.
“ … (Y)our freedom of expression and right to practice your religious beliefs are not absolute and there are limitations to these rights when they infringe upon the rights of others and causes harm or discrimination,” Gillam’s email continued.
“As GREC is a publicly funded school and under the auspices of the Ontario government, your son’s actions, if they continue, will continue to constitute harm to those who are protected under the OHRC and be subject to progressive discipline. As I stated earlier, if you want to attend a public school, you must follow the guidelines imposed by the OHRC and the Ministry of Education.”
Gillam repeated his suggestion that the O’Kanes withdraw from the school system:
(I)f the wearing of the hoodie continues, after repeated warnings and the explanation of the duties under the Ontario Human Rights Code, Ministry of Education mandates and our own school board procedures, progressive discipline will be used and ultimately, your son(s) may not find themselves able to attend GREC or any LDSB school.
Harassment, discrimination, and hate have no place in Limestone. In our schools, we do not tell students who they should be, but welcome them as they are. We do this by focusing on their academic learning and fostering feelings of belonging as expected in the Ontario curriculum and the Ontario Human Rights Code.
The Limestone District School Board supports student achievement and well-being and works hard to create inclusive spaces where every student feels valued, seen, and included. This opportunity will be afforded to all of your children as long as they adhere to the Ontario Human Rights Code and follow Ministry of Education and the Limestone District School Board’s expectations. Your right to believe what you want to believe will not be infringed upon, as long as that right does not cause harm to students or staff.
If you have any questions about any of the information shared, please let me know. We are not going to debate this further. If you want your children to attend GREC, then the wearing of anything that can be deemed as hate or harmful to others cannot happen.
You are more than welcome to explore options other than a Limestone District School Board school if you continue to disagree.
Kate told LifeSiteNews via email that she has been “bothered” by the superintendent’s email “for days now.”
“These people are in power over thousands of children within their school board and their indoctrination is so evident and their blind submission to it is disgusting. They are only harming these young children, altering Canada’s future generations, and doing so all under the guise of protecting them,” she wrote.
“Being told ‘this matter is not up for debate and no amount of information shared by you will change this’ is very frustrating and an infringement on my right to protect my children, and my children’s rights to maintain their Christian values.”
Kate believes that the school board is trampling on the rights of people who do not believe in transgender ideology by plastering “gender unicorns” on school walls and “confusing so many young kids” about the realities of human sexuality. She also believes school officials are, in effect, telling people who “follow the science” of “binary genders” (i.e. the fact that everyone is either male or female) that they are “wrong, hateful, and causing harm to others.”
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“So, basically, only one group of children and their beliefs and rights are protected, but not those who oppose this indoctrination,” Kate said.
It was not lost on her that Gillam’s solutions to the problem — repeated more than once in his letter — is that either that O’Kane boys stop professing that there are only “two genders” or Kate removes her children from the public school system. However, that is not an easy choice for a woman with five children and an estranged husband.
“We have just moved to this area recently and all 5 children attend the school together, which was why I chose that school,” she wrote. “I was working 1.5 hours away and wanted the little kids close to the big boys, in case there was ever an emergency.”
There is a Catholic elementary school nearby where she might place the younger children, she told LifeSite, but there is no local Catholic high school. This leaves her older sons Malachy and Desmond without options. And whereas Kate wants to homeschool, she is the sole financial support for her children. Compounding the family’s misfortunes, she was recently fired for, she said, asking to work from home for a day or two a week.
“As a family, we have been going through a lot lately,” she said. “I am continuing to look for work, but I am not having any luck.”
The school is aware of the family’s struggles, and Kate believes the superintendent’s thinly veiled suggestions that they leave their local school system casts doubt on what he says that board stands for.
“Telling me to remove my children from their public education board contradicts what the superintendent says Limestone District School Board stands for: that they ‘work hard to create spaces where every student feels valued, seen and included’,” she wrote.
“They only mean a select group. The other children are expected to be quiet and watch, listen and obey.”
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