Surrey school board taken
to
court over gay-parent books
Five- and six-year-olds don’t need to hear about same-sex parenting in classrooms, board argues.
By Debra Fieguth ChristianWeek staff
SURREY, BC–A motion to keep gay-lifestyle books out of kindergarten and Grade 1 classrooms has led to a B.C. Supreme Court case and has further polarized an already divided educational community.
The rapidly growing Vancouver suburb of Surrey, with 57,000 students crowded into 109 schools, has an increase of some 2,000 school children a year. At least 25 percent of them are learning English as a second language (ESL) in addition to coping with math, science and history. And they hail from every culture, says school board chair Heather Stilwell: Taiwan, India, Hong Kong, Poland, Vietnam, Latin America, to name just a few.
Overcrowding and lack of funding are constant challenges, says Stilwell, who has three children in the school system. While many students require ESL classes, "the money is always short."
A year ago parents and school board trustees were faced with yet another pressure when gay teacher James Chamberlain and other members of the Gay and Lesbian Educators of B.C. (GALE) wanted to introduce three books about gay parents to five- and six-year-old students. The books–Asha’s Mums, Belinda’s Bouquet and One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dad, Blue Dads–are intended to portray same-sex parents in a normal family setting.
Any materials not approved by the provincial government, however, must be passed by the school board. The Surrey board, which has a majority of Christians on it, passed a motion not to allow the books into the classrooms of young children. The motion did not affect library books.
Now Chamberlain and others have asked the B.C. Supreme Court to quash the school board decision. The court case is expected to be heard in June.
In the meantime, the school board has received mixed reaction from parents and a wide show of support from Surrey religious groups. Hindus, Sikhs, Catholics and Protestants are among those who have filed 65 affidavits in the Supreme Court in support of the school board’s decision.
One affidavit was submitted by 32 evangelical churches. As a parent of young children, says Surrey Alliance pastor Garry Bruce, he wants to take the responsibility himself for teaching his children about lifestyles. "I don’t want to give the responsibility to the teachers."
But support "has certainly not been just from the religious community," says Stilwell. And an independent poll conducted by Campbell Goodell Traynor Consultants Ltd. on behalf of school board lawyers Baker Newby confirms that 61 percent of Surrey adults are opposed to the use of same-sex books in kindergarten and Grade 1 classrooms.
Results of that poll, conducted between February 18 and 22, have also been filed with the B.C. Supreme Court. The decision to conduct the poll was made by legal counsel, and was not conveyed to the board until after the poll was completed, a news release states.
Lawyer Bob Kuhn says the poll results negate claims made by various special interest groups and individuals who have launched the legal action.
"The parties who started the legal action have stated on numerous occasions that ‘only a tiny minority of Surrey residents’ support the board’s decision on the books, and that the decision was made in response to the demands of the religious right," says Kuhn. "The results of this poll indicate that the majority of Surrey residents believe that the duly elected trustees made the proper decision on behalf of the community."
Other issues
The gay-parenting issue is not the only one in which the Surrey board has come under fire. A Globe and Mail article last month says the board has "prohibited ceremonies such as native spirit dances in schools." But the School Act of B.C. is very clear about not proselytizing, says Stilwell. "In the effort of fostering tolerance and understanding we have to teach religion, but religious ceremonies and prayers of any religion are not appropriate."
If she wanted to promote her own religion, Stilwell adds, "I would be trying to bring back the Lord’s Prayer." Stilwell, who is Roman Catholic, says it would be no more appropriate for students to take part in a spirit dance than to go through a Catholic mass.
"If everybody has the same rules, we will live together in peace and harmony."
