(The following article is from the March 16-31, 2010 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)

By Michael Oosting

As of February 1, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) students in Ontario will have less to worry about. The Ontario Ministry of Education, finally acting upon the extreme harassment faced by LGBT youth in schools, has replaced Memorandum No. 145 of the Ontario Education Act, the policy which governs how school boards must deal with promoting an accepting environment in schools.

     The previous version of the memorandum, which came into effect in October 2007, was put in place as a framework for dealing with prejudice and hatred among students. However, it lacked any protocols on the subject of homophobia or heterosexism. While the issues of racism and sexism encompassed several pages, there was nothing on issues faced by LGBT people in schools.

     These problems have now been brought into the limelight with the new and revamped policy. Previously harassment because of a student's sexual identity was often overlooked by school board employees. It is now law that staff must report any incident involving discrimination based on sexual orientation, even minor incidents such as homophobic slurs or graffiti.

     Also, the memorandum reads that all school board staff must support students who wish to participate in gay-straight alliances; previously, the principal of a school was able to prevent such an organization from being formed, which is quite the opposite of the Ministry's call for equal education for all. This means that Ontario is now the only place in the world where Gay-Straight alliances are supported by law, a milestone in the struggle for gay rights.

     Now school faculty will be able to provide more support than ever to LGBT students, and the next generation will receive and education that teaches acceptance regardless of sexual orientation. LGBT activists hope that other provinces will follow the example set by Ontario.