Sherbrooke school board cancels anti-homophobia workshops after parent complains

A school board inSherbrooke, Que., has halteda series of anti-homophobia workshops after parents complained about the materials being presented to elementary school students.

The non-profit groupPrima Danse gave two workshops, out of the four planned, before the Sherbrooke regional school board (CSRS)decided to stop holding them.

During the second workshop, Prima Danse animators showed sixth graders a photo of former Montreal Alouettesafety tienne Boulay and former Montreal Impact player David Testoin each other's arms. The photo was part of the exhibition Imaginary Couples, by photographer Olivier Ciappa.

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The father of a student who attended the workshop complained to the school, prompting the school board to terminate its agreement with Prima Danse.

"The father, that night, called other parents, called the school board, and went in-person in the morning to speak with the teacher in question and tell them in-person everything that was on his mind," said KatrinaJourneau,director of Prima Danse, which holds dance-orientedworkshops on social issues.

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Journeau said the father told her that "Sherbrooke isn't necessarily like Montreal" andthat "students in the sixth grade shouldn't necessarily need to hear about homosexuality."

He also said his child felt embarrassed after being shown the photos, she added.

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The anti-homophobia workshops have been given about 50 times since 2013 and this is the first time there has been a complaint, according toJourneau.

Two Quebec cabinet ministers have defended Prima Danse and are urging the school board to reconsider its decision,saying young people need to learn about different sexual orientations early.

"These questions have to be discussed with young people. It all depends on the moment, the way it's done," Education Minister Sbastien Proulx said.

Families MinisterLuc Fortinsaid children see people kissing in the street, so they have to get used to it.

"It's part of reality and I think it's quite legitimate for those kids to be aware of issues around homophobia," Fortin added.

Meeting scheduled for new year

The school board has promised to meet with representatives from Prima Dansein the new year, and held out the possibility of resuming the workshops if changes were made to their content.

"We didn't necessarily pull the final plug," said ChristianProvencher, the school board's director.

"We put all this on ice because we wanted to look at things. We didn't pull out of the project for the fun of it. We pulled out because there were things that bothered us."

The controversycomes as Quebec makes sexual education mandatory in schools beginning in first grade, and continuinguntil the end of high school. Schools are expected to teach these new courses as of September 2018.

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VanessaForgues, asexologist,disagreedwith the sentiment that elementaryschool is too young to talk to children about homosexuality.

She recommendedopening a discussion about sexual diversity when kids are as young asfour years old.

"By grade six for example,what would be relevant to addresswould be the awakening in love, the sexual awakening, 'Can I fall in love with a girl, with a boy?'" she said.