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Canada OKs pro-'gay' books for kids
WorldNetDaily.com ^ | Saturday, December 28, 2002 | By Art Moore

Posted on 12/28/2002 12:34:17 AM PST by JohnHuang2

A public school system that claims to promote diversity and tolerance should not ban books that advocate same-sex relationships to kindergartners, Canada's Supreme Court has ruled.

The high court said the Surrey School Board in British Columbia, near Vancouver, must revisit its ban on three books that also have stirred controversy in the U.S. – "Asha's Mums," "One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dads, Blue Dads" and "Belinda's Bouque."

The case began in 1997, when an openly gay kindergarten teacher attempted to have the books approved as a learning resource. The school board's ban drew 5,000 letters of support from parents and just 1,000 in opposition.

However, Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin wrote in the 7-2 ruling on Dec. 20 that, "Parental views, however important, cannot override the imperative placed upon the British Columbia public schools to mirror the diversity of the community and teach tolerance and understanding of difference."

Opponents said the high court essentially is marginalizing parents with religious convictions.

"The result of the majority decision is that if religious parents have moral objections to material taught in schools, there is no room for them to have any meaningful accommodation," said Janet Epp Buckingham, general legal counsel for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.

"The only accommodation the chief justice mentions for religious parents is the option of leaving the public system altogether," the evangelical lawyer said. "This is not an acceptable option if public schools are to be welcoming to all."

The high court said the Surrey School Board "violated the principles of secularism and tolerance" in Section 76 of British Columbia's School Act, which mandates a "secular education."

"Instead of proceeding on the basis of respect for all types of families," said the court, "the board proceeded on an exclusionary philosophy, acting on the concern of certain parents about the morality of same-sex relationships, without considering the interest of same-sex parented families and the children who belong to them in receiving equal recognition and respect in the school system."

The Catholic Civil Rights League insisted, however, that "the court's reasoning fails to recognize that the allowance of such materials likewise offends others in a pluralistic society, who have reason to expect that their views will not be trumped by the promotion of gay parenting relationships by gay-activist educators as normative."

The court argued that "Section 76 does not limit in any way the freedom of parents and board members to adhere to a religious doctrine that condemns homosexuality."

But it said the law "does prohibit the translation of such doctrine into policy decisions by the board, to the extent that they reflect a denial of the validity of other points of view."

There is no difficulty in reconciling the School Act's commitment to secularism with freedom of religion, the court said.

"Freedom of religion is not diminished, but is safeguarded, by the state's abstention from favoring or promoting any specific religious creed."

'You can't have two mummies'

In Asha's Mums, published in 1990, little Asha becomes embroiled in a discussion at school about her two mothers after bringing back a parental permission form signed by two women. Some classmates say their parents believe having two moms is wrong. But Asha tells them: "My mummies say we're a family because we live together and love each other."

One high court judge, in his consenting opinion, pointed, nevertheless, to the following passage, which "clearly purports to pronounce on the morality of same-sex relationships":

Anna Marie White, policy manager for Focus on the Family Canada, said, "Once again, the rights of parents have been steamrolled by an activist judiciary showing complete intolerance for the views of the many Canadians with deeply held religious convictions,"

White said that "with this ruling, the Supreme Court has declared that regardless of significant parental concern, their children will be subject to an unwelcome and complex sexual issue."

White also argued that the ruling is contrary to recent moves by the British Columbia government to include more parental involvement in the education system.

"This decision strikes directly against that principle," she said. "We urge the provincial government to immediately amend the School Act to ensure that the values held by many parents that they teach at home are not being contradicted in the classroom."


TOPICS: Canada; Culture/Society; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: homosexualagenda
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Saturday, December 28, 2002

Quote of the Day by kayak

1 posted on 12/28/2002 12:34:17 AM PST by JohnHuang2
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To: JohnHuang2
Canada....Hahahahahaaaaa.....!
The place is like a sick, infected tumor growing off the ass of America. What's next - - this gay kindergarten teacher should have the right to teach the kids all about "fisting"?

Come to think of it, I wonder if Canada would be interested in taking Massachusetts and California off our hands?

2 posted on 12/28/2002 12:55:14 AM PST by Lancey Howard
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To: JohnHuang2
Oh barf.. Oh gag..

There you go, the queers "forcing their beliefs on people" again..

Further, why is everyone so thoroughly interested in teaching kids about sex? Why is this necessary?

You know, the world was working just fine (thank you) before this kind of thing was added to the curriculum. Here in the states, it worked just fine before the DOE came along also.

Why must people insist on 'fixing' things before they break?

3 posted on 12/28/2002 1:01:57 AM PST by Jhoffa_
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To: Jhoffa_
PS:

And they become angry when you say: "I simply don't trust you alone in the woods with my kid.."

Imagine.

4 posted on 12/28/2002 1:02:53 AM PST by Jhoffa_
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To: JohnHuang2
"Ahhhhh'm a lumberjack and I'm okay
"I sleep all night and I work all day."

"Heeeee's a lumberjack and he's okay
"He sleeps all night and he works all day."
5 posted on 12/28/2002 1:04:45 AM PST by RichInOC
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To: JohnHuang2
Endorsing pc views can be the death of a culture/society...


LINKS OF INTEREST:

CNS NEWS.com: "BRITISH HOMOSEXUAL GROUP CHALLENGES CHRISTIAN CHARITY" by Mike Wendling (122602)

COVENANT NEWS.com: "ABOMINATIONS"

LifeSite.net: "PRO-LIFE WOMAN FACES INDICTMENT FOR READING THE BIBLE" (121802)

THE CULTURE AND FAMILY REPORT is Online for your Perusal!

YOUNG AMERICA'S FOUNDATION: "2002 TOP TEN CAMPUS FOLLIES"

6 posted on 12/28/2002 2:17:35 AM PST by Cindy
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To: Lancey Howard
How disgusting. Yet, how true.
7 posted on 12/28/2002 2:37:26 AM PST by Lilly
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To: RichInOC
"Teeeeeeeeeeeeeeem-behhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhr!" (The Canuck lumberjack in the Pink Panther cartoon)
8 posted on 12/28/2002 3:33:15 AM PST by HiTech RedNeck
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To: JohnHuang2
Canada's Supreme Court is the U.S Democratic Party's wet dream for the SCOTUS.
9 posted on 12/28/2002 3:56:49 AM PST by goldstategop
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To: *Homosexual Agenda
http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list
10 posted on 12/28/2002 9:00:19 AM PST by Free the USA
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To: JohnHuang2; Free the USA; EdReform; Khepera; ppaul; buffyt; L.N. Smithee; conserve-it; g'nad; ...
Thanks for posting this and thanks for pinging the index.

Let me know if you want to be included or removed in future pings of this type.

To find all articles tagged or indexed using Homosexual Agenda, click below:
  click here >>> Homosexual Agenda <<< click here  
(To view all FR Bump Lists, click here)

11 posted on 12/28/2002 9:38:09 AM PST by scripter
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To: scripter
If gays were as morally right as they feel why do they need to teach the rest of us about tolerance hmmmm?

Barf!
12 posted on 12/28/2002 10:24:44 AM PST by I_Love_My_Husband
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To: I_Love_My_Husband
bump..
13 posted on 12/28/2002 10:52:57 AM PST by Jhoffa_
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To: JohnHuang2
I share your disgust for this ruling in Canada. I used to go to Canada quite a bit when I was a kid, and I always noticed how their standards were lower than ours, but this is putrid.

Americans should pray that the liberal wing of our Supreme Court is purged and replaced with decent, conservative people who believe in making rational, righteous decisions. Our court isn't currently as bad as the Canadians, but it's also a big disappointment in many ways. But I have faith for better things.
14 posted on 12/28/2002 10:58:43 AM PST by No dems 2002
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To: JohnHuang2
Bump for perfect country with a perfect society.
15 posted on 12/28/2002 11:08:23 AM PST by Kay Soze
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To: Kay Soze
That relies on the USA to come to their aid and be their defender on this continent. They feel they have nothing to lose!
16 posted on 12/28/2002 11:39:12 AM PST by I_Love_My_Husband
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To: JohnHuang2
"You can't have two mummies," Judi insisted.

Well, if you watch Jerry Springer, Jenny Jones, Maury Povich, and Ricki Lake, you can have six daddies.....or none at all, depending on how the paternity tests turn out...

17 posted on 12/28/2002 12:07:12 PM PST by Dakotabound
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To: JohnHuang2
This sort of thing is such a good argument for ending public education, period.
18 posted on 12/28/2002 9:58:05 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
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To: RichInOC
Do continue. Some FReepers may not have seen Monty Python...
19 posted on 12/28/2002 9:59:07 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
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To: Cindy
LifeSite.net: "PRO-LIFE WOMAN FACES INDICTMENT FOR READING THE BIBLE" (121802)

I wonder how badly they'd pee their pants if I read from Leviticus or told them that Jesus said, if you don't have a sword, trade your cloak in for one?

20 posted on 12/28/2002 10:02:29 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
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