School Board Member’s Pride Flag Proposal Is Turned Down

A Catholic school board in Toronto has voted to continue its Pride flag ban after a trustee tried to revise the policy. 

Brea Corbet, a member of the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board proposed that schools with three flagpoles could fly a Pride flag in addition to the Canadian and Ontario flags. The current policy allows Pride flags to be hung inside school buildings during a specific “observance period.” They must be removed the rest of the year. Corbet explained:

“When we remove rainbow flags or other heritage flags, we’re not protecting Catholic identity. We’re revealing institutional fragility. The rainbow flag doesn’t threaten Catholic education. Policies of exclusion do. And exclusion is a strong form of bullying.” 

However, the board vetoed Corbet’s idea. Trustee Paula Dametto-Giovannozzi states that the Church “is called to love all people” but schools should not “outwardly promote” LGBTQ+ identity, claiming the ban is not a form of discrimination but rather a part of Catholicism.

Currently, the school board limits the types of flags that can be flown on flagpoles outside the schools. Schools with one flagpole must fly the Canadian flag. Those with two flagpoles fly the Canadian and Ontario flags, and those with three fill the extra space with a flag associated with the school board, a Catholic charity, or a church liturgical season. 

Yet, Corbet argues that the lack of Pride flags can be detrimental to the school environment: 

“Prohibiting these flags from flying outside the board office and removing them inside schools after an observance period ends does not make school environments more welcoming, safer, more inclusive. It doesn’t.”

Catholic schools in Canada have had several significant LGBTQ+ disputes, such as whether gay-straight alliances should be in Catholic schools or students should be able to bring same-sex dates to dances. Now, Pride flags have become the latest Catholic school controversy. 

Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board runs 151 Catholic schools in Greater Toronto. The schools receive public funding and are usually required to follow nondiscrimination laws but are also allowed to teach religion.

The Pride flag is a powerful symbol that should have space in and out of the classroom. Not only does it allow visibility to the LGBTQ+ community, but it reminds everyone of God’s love of all. 

—Sarah Cassidy, New Ways Ministry, April 4, 2025