Ontario Catholic School Board Restricts Student Access to LGBTQ+ Books

The Waterloo Catholic District School Board, in southwest Ontario, recently restricted access to books that portray LGBTQ+ characters, making the texts unavailable to some students.

News of the restrictions came via leaked memo wherein the school board lists four books which they claim do not “align with the Family Life curriculum.” The memo goes on to say that before students below grade 6 “may borrow these books from the library, a teacher must provide the Catholic context.”

The four books mentioned in the memo all include LGBTQ+ characters: Princess Pru and the Ogre on the Hill has a family with two dads, The Mystery of the Painted Fan considers gender identity, Jude Saves the World features a nonbinary main character, and Salma Writes a Book includes a young girl wrestling to understand her families estrangement from her queer uncle.

Danny Ramadan, the author of Salma Writes a Book, shared his response to this restriction with Xtra:

“‘This is not just about the children who identify as queer themselves. This is also about ensuring that the children who identify within the mainstream identities are aware that queerness exists in the world. . .Students are being denied the ability to read something that might reflect who they are.'”

Ramadan is concerned that the restrictions placed upon the books will make them inaccessible because, “How would an eight-year-old know to go and ask a teacher for a book about queerness?”

Ronnie Riley, the author of Jude Saves the World, echoed this concern by sharing their own story:

“‘I struggled with my queerness because I didn’t have the language to describe what I was going through. I hope that readers of Jude Saves the World learn a little more about who they are, find joy, acceptance, and celebration in being themselves, and don’t struggle the same way I did.'”

Calls within the literary world to remove the restriction on these titles have come from the Association of Canadian Publishers, The Writers’ Union of Canada, and the Ontario Library Association (OLA). OLA released a statement in November expressing concern for restricting access to certain titles and emphasizing the importance of diverse representation. The organization stated: “The OLA denounces any attempt to ban or restrict age-appropriate books on the grounds that they do not align with the personal beliefs and biases of school board members.”

Furthermore, Quill and Quire reported that, “The Writers’ Union of Canada has called on the Waterloo Catholic District School Board for a public discussion to address the policy, stressing that any restrictions on shortlisted titles must be removed.” The Writers’ Union of Canada stated: “If a school board takes it upon itself to contextualize and/or provide counter understanding around a book’s subject matter, that work should not stand in the way of student access to the work in question.”

Patrick Etmanski, president of Waterloo Catholic Teachers, shared that “while any discussions about sexuality, gender and gender identity are guided by the Ontario curriculum, Catholic teachers maintain our firm commitment to engaging in learning and discussions that honour and respect the dignity and value of all individuals.”

—Liam Myers (he/him), New Ways Ministry, January 10, 2024