‘We will not be set aside’: Students set to stage walkout calling on YCDSB to reverse Pride flag decision

June 8 Walkout for Action in support of 2SLGBTQ+ respect, dignity and visibility

Yorkregion.com
June 5, 2023
Yoyo Yan

After the York Catholic District School Board voted against raising the Pride flag in June, a group of Catholic school students are calling for a region-wide “Walkout for Action” in support of 2SLGBTQ+ respect, dignity and visibility, and calling on the board to reverse their decision.

“On June 8 at all YCDSB schools, walk out of class at 1:15 p.m. and wear rainbow colours instead of your uniform,” the YCDSB Students for Change group said in a post on social media.

“The YCDSB has shown us that they do not value their students, staff and community members. We must act now! There is no time to wait for next year or the year after, when 2SLGBTQ+ students are suffering.”

“Our trustees and administration have failed us. Now we must act,” said the group, clarifying that they specifically mean the board's senior administration, because principals, vice-principals and staff have been extremely supportive.

The group is asking supporters to make posters and bring Pride flags for the walkout. “We need to show the YCDSB that we care and we will not be set aside.”

The colours of progress Pride flag won’t be seen outside the YCDSB administration building this June after trustees voted down a motion to raise the 2SLGBTQ+ symbol at its May 29 meeting.

As a result, Pflag York Region is urging administration at Catholic schools across the region to raise the progress Pride flag alongside the Canadian flag in an act of defiance.

Pflag York Region is also calling on Minister of Education Stephen Lecce to intervene.

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“We urge your urgent action regarding the inequitable flag policy at YCDSB,” Tristan Coolman, president of Pflag York, wrote in a letter to Lecce about "YCDSB's continued violation of the Accepting Schools Act, 2012."

Lecce has said he expects school boards to “redouble their efforts to protect (2SLGBTQ+) students and ensure their inclusion within Ontario schools.

-- With files from Laura Broadley