This topic of the right to religious freedom has come up a lot. This is outside of my lane of disability writing, but I am surprised by how many parents contact me about this issue, so here is a blog on it.
I want to offer two cases that I think are very important.
E.T. v. Hamilton-Wenworth District School Board, 2017 ONCA 893
This is a case about a parent who didn’t agree with sex education, etc being taught in school and felt it was in conflict with their right to religious freedom.
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[40] E.T. cannot, by virtue of his religious beliefs, insist that a non-denominational public school board restructure its inclusive and integrated program, designed to meet its statutory objective of ensuring a respectful and accepting climate for all children, so that he can ensure that his own children are not exposed to any views that he does not accept. Nor do I accept E.T.’s suggestion that the Board could or should ensure that discussion of matters such as sexual orientation and gender identity are discussed purely as matters of fact rather than as matters of “value judgment”. The Board has a statutory mandate to provide an inclusive and tolerant educational environment, one that respects the principles of equality enshrined in s. 15 of the Charter. Equality, inclusivity and acceptance of difference are values, not facts, and it is unrealistic to expect teachers to provide a learning environment that is truly welcoming to all students in a value-free manner.
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So what brought on this decision?
Here was the parents request:
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[2] The appellant advised the Board that his religious beliefs require him to shelter his children from what his religion regards as “false teachings”. He provided the Board with a standard form list of topics that included matters such as “moral relativism”, “environmental worship”, “instruction in sex education”, and “discussion or portrayals of homosexual/bisexual conduct and relationships and/or transgenderism as natural, healthy or acceptable”. He asked the Board to provide him with advance notice of any classroom instruction or discussion of these issues so that he could decide whether or not to withdraw his children from those classes or activities.
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This was the Boards response to his request.
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[3] The Board offered to exempt the appellant’s children from the “Healthy Living” strand in the elementary program, which is offered as a discrete part of the curriculum and involves education on human development and sexual health. However, the Board explained to the appellant that its Equity Policy aims to provide an integrated secular and respectful learning environment that does not discriminate against any child. The Board’s program aims to promote a positive and inclusive environment that accepts all pupils, including those of any sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. The Board advised E.T. that, given the integrated nature of its program and the generality of the items on his list, it was neither practical nor possible to comply with his request for prior notification of any time one of the items on his list would arise for discussion in the classroom. The Board also expressed the concern that if E.T.’s children were required to leave the classroom every time one of these topics came up for discussion, the Board’s policy of providing an inclusive and non-discriminatory program would be undermined.
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The reality is that when we send our children to a public school, we are co-parenting with the government. And the government has the final say. If you want 100% control over your child’s education, don’t send them to a public school. Education is a government service that is for all children, and the government and society have goals for the next generation. If equality and inclusivity conflict with your religious beliefs, you file a human rights complaint against a public school citing religion as your protected ground, you will probably get it dismissed. Schools are legislated to provide an inclusive and tolerant learning environment.
“The Board has a statutory mandate to provide an inclusive and tolerant educational environment, one that respects the principles of equality enshrined in s. 15 of the Charter.”
I also give you this case
Chamberlain v. Surrey School District No. 36, 2002 SCC 86
This is a case about parents’ religious objections to 2SLGBTQIA+ storybooks. The school board’s decision was not to approve books for use in kindergarten and grade 1 for fear of the parents’ religious concerns.
The court overturned the board’s decision because it conflicted with the statutory obligation that public schools have in British Columbia to separate religion from state affairs.
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“The B.C. School Act confers on the Minister of Education the power to approve basic educational resource materials to be used in teaching the curriculum in public schools, and confers on school boards the authority to approve supplementary educational resource material, subject to Ministerial direction. A Kindergarten‑Grade One (“K‑1″) teacher asked the Surrey School Board to approve three books as supplementary learning resources, for use in teaching the family life education curriculum. The books depicted families in which both parents were either women or men — same‑sex parented families. The Board passed a resolution declining to approve the books. The Board’s overarching concern, as found by the trial judge, was that the books would engender controversy in light of some parents’ religious objections to the morality of same‑sex relationships. The Board also felt that children at the K‑1 level should not be exposed to ideas that might conflict with the beliefs of their parents; that children of this age were too young to learn about same‑sex parented families; and that the material was not necessary to achieve the learning outcomes in the curriculum.”
The Result:
“The Board’s decision is unreasonable because the process through which it was made took the Board outside its mandate under the School Act. First, the Board violated the principles of secularism and tolerance in s. 76 of the Act. Instead of proceeding on the basis of respect for all types of families, the Board proceeded on an exclusionary philosophy, acting on the concern of certain parents about the morality of same‑sex relationships, without considering the interest of same‑sex parented families and the children who belong to them in receiving equal recognition and respect in the school system. Second, the Board departed from its own regulation with respect to how decisions on supplementary resources should be made, which required it to consider the relevance of the proposed material to curriculum objectives and the needs of children of same‑sex parented families. Third, the Board applied the wrong criteria. It failed to consider the curriculum’s goal that children at the K‑1 level be able to discuss their family models, and that all children be made aware of the diversity of family models in our society. Instead, the Board applied a criterion of necessity, which was inconsistent with the function of supplementary resources in enriching children’s experience through the use of extra materials of local relevance. The Board erred in relying on concerns about cognitive dissonance and age‑appropriateness which were foreclosed by the curriculum in this case.”
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Our society needs to stay the course and fight for an inclusive and equitable society for all people and especially for marginalized groups with deep historical roots in oppression. Public schools are essential in socializing the next generation towards inclusion.
If anyone has come across other cases that they feel are important to this topic, or are newer, I would love it if you could email me and let me know what they are.
kimbpath @ gmail.com