Catholic School Official Criticizes Trustee’s Comparison of Pride Flags to Nazism

The  chair of a Canadian Catholic school board has criticized one of its members who compared the board’s decision to fly Pride flags at district Catholic schools this month with Nazism.

Danny Di Lorenzo, chair of the Niagara Catholic District School Board (NCDSB) in Ontario spoke out after Natalia Benoit, a trustee made the extremist comment in a YouTube video. The Standard reported:

“[At] a board meeting last week, St. Catharines/Niagara-on-the-Lake trustee Natalia Benoit brought forth a notice of motion to reverse the [NCDSB] . . .  decision — backed by Niagara Falls trustee Joe Bruzzese — calling the Pride flag ‘ideological.’

“Following the meeting, in a video posted onn YouTube , Benoit spoke about her desire to not fly the Pride flag, saying it was about any flag, ‘like a Nazi flag, we don’t want that either.'”

Di Lorenzo responded to Benoit’s comparison by saying:

“It’s very fair to say that we, and I’m speaking for all my trustee groups and all my trustee colleagues, do not agree with equating the Pride flag, (which) is about love and inclusion with a flag that for the past 80 years has been known about hate and division. . .I do not see how that even equates or comes close.”

Despite the clear language in the video, Benoit told the CBC that her comments were misrepresented and complained that the in debate over Pride “deeply religious children are also being harmed.”

Benoit, who was elected as a candidate put forward by the “Vote Against Woke” parents group, believes that Catholic schools which are LGBTQ-supportive may be “a place for intolerance toward children of Catholic faith.

Di Lorenzo’s critique of Benoit was supported and enlarged by local LGBTQ+ advocates.t. Enzo De Divitiis, chair of Pride Niagara, called the trustee’s remarks “straight up hate,” while Colleen McTigue of Transgender Niagara called them “heinous” because “[w]e’re not trying to exterminate anybody. We’re trying to spread hope, we’re trying to spread understanding and compassion and love.”

York Catholic District Votes Against Flying Pride Flag

In a separate Pride flag controversy in Ontario, the York Catholic District School Board (YCDSB) is receiving criticism for voting 6-4 not to fly a Pride flag outside the district’s administrative offices this month. This decision followed months of controversy, including meetings that required police intervention,

Frank Alexander, YCDSB’s chair, told the Toronto Star that he and others voted against the flag raising, even while claiming to support LGBTQ+ students, because two church leaders—Cardinal Thomas Collins, emeritus of Toronto, and Bishop Ronald Fabbro of London (Canada)—said Pride does not “align with our Catholic values.”

Student trustees Anthea Peta-Dragos and Jonah James, who supported flying the flag but could not vote, had made a motion to table the proposal not to fly the flag, but they were unsuccessful in doing so. One trustee said he voted no because he felt that simply flying a flag just “checks a box” and does not solve the issue of LGBTQ+ support.

The board’s vote is being heavily criticized. The Toronto Star reported:

“Dina Mayr has been a teacher with York Catholic District School Board for 23 years and is the parent of a transgender child, who went to a school she taught at. She feels ‘utterly ashamed’ to be a part of a system that made this decision. . .

“‘If [my son] was here today, in this climate, I would not feel the same way,’ Mayr said. ‘I know of parents who had to pull their children out of our school system. I think that is a travesty’. . .

“‘I can’t believe that a Catholic school, a Catholic system can stand by and allow that to continue to happen.'”

Tristan Coolman, president of PFLAG Canada, York Region issued a statement saying YCDSB trustees are “simply incapable of fostering an environment in which marginalized communities feel a strong sense of belonging,” and that the PFLAG chapter deemed the Catholic school district “unsafe” for LGBTQ+ people.

Politicians have also joined the chorus of criticism. Stephen Lecce, Ontario’s education minister, expressed disappointed with YCDSB’s decision, but refused comment on whether he would mandate it be reversed. Lecce explained:

“‘We have been clear and consistent since this issue first arose. . .Our message to children in our schools, particularly the LGBTQ+, is that we see them, we value them and we are proud as a government to stand with them. Every child in a publicly funded school should be supported, should feel affirmed and should feel safe.'”

Kathleen Wynne, Ontario’s former premier who is gay, was critical of both YCDSB and Lecce’s failure to intervene, stating, “[Lecce] can’t have it both ways” and that the board’s vote “is a cowardly, shameful decision. It emboldens and validates homophobia and transphobia.”

Disputes Raise Concerns Over Public Funding

It is not unusual for Canadian government officials to become involved in debates concerning religious schoools because the government provides funding for these school. Shawn Micallef, a contributor to the Toronto Star, said that in view of the ongoing LGBTQ-related disputes in these schools,  the question of public funding for Canada’s Catholic schools needs to be re-examined. He attended such a school where there was a “hostile environment,” including on gender and sexuality issues. Micallef comments:

“If the Catholic board doesn’t want to raise the flag, a most minor gesture of Christian kindness, the kind of thing Jesus would have done if the vibes in the New Testament are to be believed, do it without public funds.”

—Robert Shine (he/him), New Ways Ministry, June 6, 2023