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Home My WebLink AboutRally in Ottawa targets rollback of Ontario sex-ed curriculum - Ottawa Citizen - 07/15/2018 - Ottawa Citizen - 07/15/20187/16/2018 Rally in Ottawa targets rollback of Ontario sex -ed curriculum I Ottawa Citizen Rally in Ottawa targets rollback of Ontario sex -education curriculum GARY DIM MOCK (Il //OTTAWACITIZEN.COM/AUTHOR/CRIME GARDEN) Updated: July 15, 2018 1"e'ryla f, l i r t, alt ��.,Yr�i ��' Ill l b%:b / ,d� d,lJ,IFI.eJJ,�,bff� 't l rt �r lfi2lr �, itd ��'�I��.J,Ifr lit lllr„Pti,r/G,','�/, i'afl itir PATRICK DOYLE / OTT Young and old, queer and straight, they gathered under the shade of trees at Ottawa's human -rights monument to rally loudly against the new Ontario government's rollback on the province's modernized sex -education curriculum. https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/0716-sex 1/8 7/16/2018 Rally in Ottawa targets rollback of Ontario sex -ed curriculum I Ottawa Citizen All had their own reasons for spending a Sunday afternoon chanting and condemning the Ford government's return to a 1998 curriculum that pre -dates social media, same-sex marriage laws and clear consent. In a particularly moving address to the 200 -strong crowd, Amanda Jette Knox shared the story of her daughter, who after coming out as transgender was subjected to unbearable ridicule at school and bullying online. Some classmates called her awful names and thought the girl had some kind of sickness, her mother told the crowd at the Elgin Street monument. "She felt lost," her mother explained. �,Iff l A,,Jt„l,f�: �h%3 ,,ht,oifz Lt,eLfi�,,It,Ald�f�l,f I`((t '„lllrt'„Jr�l,r y PATRICK DOYLE / OTT Jette Knox, a writer and LGBTQ advocate, homeschooled her daughter for a bit. When she returned to class in 2017, some teachers had already started teaching the new curriculum and she was welcomed with open arms. Classmates used the right pronouns and the experience was overwhelmingly positive because she was surrounded by students who finally understood her daughter, Jette Knox said. https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/0716-sex 2/8 7/16/2018 Rally in Ottawa targets rollback of Ontario sex -ed curriculum I Ottawa Citizen She firmly credits the since -repealed curriculum for turning around her daughter's nightmare situation. She told the crowd that she had become terrified that students across Ontario would no longer be taught a modernized curriculum. She called on all parents to push school staff to continue to teach a modernized curriculum. Christopher Jennings, 24, held a placard saying, "Keep kids safe. Teaching consent saves lives." Jennings graduated high school in 2012 and said the sex education he received was vastly inadequate. "These conversations about continuing and expressed consent need to be included in the sex -education curriculum," he said. Newly -elected Ottawa -Centre MPP Joel Harden called on educators to teach the modern curriculum in defiance of the Ford government. Sounding as if he was still campaigning for office, Harden called on everyone to commit to organizing at the grass-roots level and directed them to spread the word in a way that not only pre -dated the Internet, but also social media: good old- fashioned door -knocking. "We need to take the message to the doorsteps," Harden said, encouraging supporters to start knocking on the doors of local ridings held by Conservative MPPS, including Lisa MacLeod, the minister of Children, Community and Social Services. "We need a new generation of community organizers," said Harden, who mentioned, but did not detail the sad story of Kanata's Jamie Hubley, the openly -gay figure skater who killed himself after years of bullying at school. The PC government is consulting to see how it will replace the curriculum that has been repealed amid outrage by social conservatives. Ford repeatedly pledged to repeal and replace the curriculum during the spring election campaign, saying parents had not been consulted enough. The newer sex -ed curriculum sparked controversy, particularly among social conservatives, when the Liberal government introduced it three years ago. It was the first time the curriculum had been updated since 1998, and it included warnings about online bullying and sexting that were not in the https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/0716-sex 3/8 7/16/2018 Rally in Ottawa targets rollback of Ontario sex -ed curriculum i Ottawa Citizen previous version. However, protesters zeroed in on discussions of same-sex marriage, gender identity and masturbation. eHce C alb .I`,nit L iJ,",� % Ia11,I,es II r 1„I"In' u1 s Sex 0(,”, CJJ 1 Ir51.J JJ,1"rf1'T , JU fIoJ, Y, r11�1�e i /')Y rk I 1rh tJ1 ,,/?, PATRICK DOYLE / OTT Ontario's two largest teachers' unions have opposed the decision to repeal the 2015 curriculum, saying parents and educators were consulted extensively before the curriculum was updated. gdimmock.@(https://postmediaottawacitizen2.wordpress.com/mentions//) postmedia.com http://www.twitter.com/crimegarden (http://www.twitter.com/crimegarden). JOEL HARDEN (HTTPS://OTTAWACITIZEN.COM/TAG/JOEL-HARDEN) ONTARIO (HTTPS://OTTAWACITIZEN.COMITAG/ONTARIO) SEX -ED (HTTPS://OTTAWACITIZEN.COM/TAG/SEX-ED) TRENDING STORIES https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/0716-sex 4/8 7/16/2018 Rally in Ottawa targets rollback of Ontario sex -ed curriculum I Ottawa Citizen This Week's Flyers cm Ii7 thin �2x i r UIi r r a I Nr ver foir Ilf]yeir Is it you?! $60M Lotto Max winning ticket sold in Ottawa Friday the 13th will never be considered an unlucky date for someone in Ottawa. Friday night's Lotto Max draw, after... < Previous Next > I N� veir foir IlF' y or I Noveir far IIF]yeii° Flowered Ik) https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/0716-sex 5/8 7/16/2018 Rally in Ottawa targets rollback of Ontario sex -ed curriculum I Ottawa Citizen Comments We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page (http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/story.html?id=7195492) for more information. https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/0716-sex 6/8 7/16/2018 Rally in Ottawa targets rollback of Ontario sex -ed curriculum I Ottawa Citizen 7 Comments Sort by Top Add a comment... Phillip MacCallum Another fine examply of throwing taxpayer money away without any actual consideration for reality. guess Ford missed the FACT that heavy consultation was done on the curriculum and the teachers union fully supported it? How much money has #FordNation thrown away in only a few weeks under some obscene guise of saving the province money? Like • Reply • 2 • 2h Barry Renyar If the teachers' union opposes Ford, then Ford must be doing the right thing. Opposers need to listen to Jordan Peterson. Like • Reply • 2 • 10h United I y IPunk. Conservatives don't like it when women are educated on consent. Makes it harder to abuse one's power, takes away one of the big perks.... Like • Reply • 1 • 1h ILauiriie Weston The line for lobotomies forms on the left. Like • Reply • 1 h This is pure political generated outrage and has zero to do with data or quanitifiable research. To begin with the so called "new" curiculum did not begin to be taught until 2015 not 1998. So are the students from the first decade of the new millenium all pregnant, with STDs or otherwise horrribly uniformed about sexuality? Of course not. Information comes from variety of sources,online, movies, books, friends, siblings, parents etc. and there is little evidence young people's attitude is mostly informed by teachers. Secondly, non of the other provinces teach the Ontario curiculum as it was proposed. Some do not even start sex education until 6th. or 7th. grade or in one case grade 9. Is there a shed of factual data to show the outcomes in these provinces is any different than Ontario. None at all. This is simply a convenient facade for people who don't like Ford and the teacher union stooges to vent their frustration at the election results. Like • Reply • 1h Wayne Ouellette Hysterical overreaction. Like • Reply • 2h t, ad 2 M01",',,,`, https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/0716-sex 7/8 7/16/2018 Rally in Ottawa targets rollback of Ontario sex -ed curriculum I Ottawa Citizen j , A j , 1, R"'d n 365 Floor St EM ON, V5 2015 PosaTed a AMA MI IQKQ ghm re.tel vwJ,,,, Unauthorked dshlbuthi, Vansibion or spWraHm strody uw%hed Powmac by WAIresmom \111 nnnam Aw zw cew, povesd man .'r, ma u&vv" ca— paQnM " ASAIN,,- https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/0716-sex 8/8