Last week Instinct reported on the banning of a book about gay penguins happening in Florida. Today, we are pleased to report that our queer friends to the north are celebrating the removal of a homophobic curriculum from school textbooks. Is everything just better in Canada lol? Joking aside, as reported by the Catholic News Agency,
“Textbook publisher Pearson Canada has dropped the Ontario Catholic education curriculum “Fully Alive” from its offerings after LGBT advocates claimed the Catholic content is “homophobic.”gency,'”
GO CANADIANS! How awesome it must be to live in a country where the GOP isn’t trying to erase the existence of queer people.
.@ICEontario: Parents “rightly expect that the presentation of a family life curriculum will reflect a Catholic view of human life, sexuality, marriage, & family.”
Me: My Ss’ human rights come 1st.
These Gr 7-8 Fully Alive textbooks remain in a box.@TorontoCPIC @oapcetoronto pic.twitter.com/ssw2G72Q9l
— The Rainbow Room (@pdbclassroom) January 12, 2023
The Fully Alive curriculum depicts the world through a very narrow very straight very Catholic lens. Publishing giant Pearson carried the homophobic curriculum in all grades 1-8 textbooks. In addition, Fully Alive provided resources for teachers. In a statement to CNA, a Pearson spokesperson said, they are “in the process of ending its support for Fully Alive. [We] stopped printing in December and will stop support for the digital version by March.”
Kyle Iannuzzi, a former student trustee at the Toronto Catholic District School Board now a member of its LGBT+ advisory committee, filed a complaint against Pearson said the books provide,
“sexualized notions of self that adhere with the Catholic faith but are at odds with the reality of science and nature. It really fosters an experience of loneliness of queer kids in Catholic places”
I don’t know if there’s anyone who’s invested more time and energy into advocating that queer kids in Catholic schools deserve equal and equitable treatment than @misterdebuono – thank you for your work against all kinds of bullying. #FullyAlive #OntEd https://t.co/5NK23iKqKz
— Kyle he/they (@HashtagKyle) January 11, 2023
Family life and sex education according to Fully Alive “is intended to pass on a distinctively Catholic view of human life, sexuality, marriage, and family. Its goal is to complement the efforts of families and to support what parents are doing at home.” Pearson will publish a different series for Catholic schools in Canada, Growing in Faith.
A victory for one of us is a victory for all of us!
Glad to hear Fully Alive is being phased out of textbooks? Sound off in the comments below.
Some good news this morning: Having survived a catholic education as an LGBTQ+ teen, I can personally attest that the “Fully Alive” program erased and stigmatized queer people for generations of our youth to their profound harm.
Good riddance. https://t.co/Cx5OcbzO8D
— The Hungover Pundit (@hungover_the) January 14, 2023
“Those folks … can keep their ideas, but they cannot project them onto the youth whose identities are valid and who deserve to feel safe.” – @DeclanAmaral
Fully Alive program scrapped by @PearsonK12.#onted #onpoli #cdnpoli @equitychatterhttps://t.co/Ttis1izjeS
— nicole richard 💡 (@nicole__richard) January 11, 2023
As a kid, I remember thinking “Fully Alive” was trash. Thanks to @HashtagKyle, it seems that’s where it will finally go 🙌🏾
Not only have Pearson Canada + @TCDSB taught a homophobic, transphobic, misogynist text, but it’s also factually incorrect. https://t.co/PvICx8NTWq
— Eternity Martis (@eternitymartis) January 11, 2023
As I’ve said for years now, confirmed in a statement yesterday to the CBC: We can choose not to use or teach Fully Alive.#TCDSBCourage @TCDSBdirector @TCDSB_NCC @floracifelli @TCDSB_AJBRIA @campbes03 @SOArea6_TCDSB @TCDSB_PAguiar @TCDSB_Peterson @TrusteeDAmico @DDiGiorgio_ pic.twitter.com/lrIiW4luN4
— The Rainbow Room (@pdbclassroom) January 12, 2023
Sources: Catholic News Agency
