MISSISSAUGA, Ontario (LifeSiteNews) — A Canadian dad is urging an Ontario Catholic school board not to fly the pride flag but to “take up the cross” as a symbol of love and mercy.
During a Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board (DPCDSB) meeting on May 23, Catholic father and Campaign Life Coalition vice president Matthew Wojciechowski pleaded with the board to reconsider flying the pride flag during gay “Pride Month” this June.
“I love those who identify as LGBTQ so much that I’d rather be falsely accused of bigotry and hatred than pretend that the path they’re going down is not deadly,” Wojciechowski declared, quoting his CLC colleague Josie Luetke.
“People in this room will say the flag represents love and inclusion,” he continued. “I disagree; it is naïve and irresponsible as Catholic educators and as parents to not recognize the ideology this flag represents.”
“To try to reconcile the pride flag with the Catholic Church, you must completely rip it from its origins and turn a blind eye to how it is used today,” he stated.
As Catholics, we are taught that we must love our neighbour and treat every individual as a child of God, accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity.
Parents make a clear choice when they decide that their children will attend a Catholic school. They rightly expect that trustees, principals, teachers all partners in education will ensure that Catholic teaching is presented, lived and infused in all that we do. In that regard, the appropriate symbol that represents our faith, and the inclusion and acceptance of others, is the cross, which is visible at the entrance of every Catholic school. It is the primary symbol of our Christian faith.
We have created this petition to express opposition of flying the pride flag at schools for the month of June. Our kids should not be forced to celebrate anyones sexuality, and a flag will do nothing to keep anyone more safe. Its nothing more than a symbol of sexual celebration, completely inappropriate.
Catholicism and parental rights are being threatened, and we will not allow teachers who are LGBTQ to influence our children.
We are not homophobes. We are trying to shield our children from any sexual ideologies, both gay and straight. Children are minors who have a right to a normal and innocent childhood. We are not STAKEHOLDERS. We are parents. EQUITY is not and will never be the same as EQUALITY. Inclusion means EVERYONE and the York Region Catholic District School Board & its Union members are infringing upon our religious beliefs by suffocating our children with woke political agendas & indoctrinations when they should be focusing on educating our kids!
We love all humans equally. Hate is the wrong word to describe parents feelings about the climate in schools today. Parents protesting the pride flag at school do not harbour any negative feelings towards the LGBTQ+ community. We do however feel that their rights seem to supersede everyone elses. We also believe that kids should never learn about sex at school and we condemn any classroom discussion or public display that encourages or promotes gender confusion and same sex lifestyles in a classroom setting. We also strongly condemn the nature of several library books that contain sensitive material on homosexuality and transgender issues in elementary school libraries. Similarly, we harbour no contempt for transgenders as individuals but their insistence on using female-only spaces is invasive.
The promotion of a pride sticker and the likelihood that a flag will go up in June at all schools suggests a particular political agenda, which warrants examination. Concern about alleged incidents of bullying directed at the LGBTQ community within schools has been raised. However when requesting specific information on the actual number of such reports, it was communicated that the data is currently confidential and not publicly available. Despite clarifying that only the number of incidents was desired, the same response was given.
The lack of transparency and information provided by the York Region Catholic District School Board concerning alleged incidents combined with these extreme campaigns using safe space stickers to promote political agendas, raises necessary questions about their motives. Despite facing opposition from relevant individuals, including the Archbishop of Toronto and Cardinal Collins, who have both explicitly expressed their disapproval of such displays, the union and its members have vehemently insisted the stickers remain.
We must stand up against this before the Board caves to the pressure of political correctness and decide to raise the pride flag too.
Please share this. We must get as many signatures as possible before May 20th so that we may present a united front at this months meeting with this petition in hand that will speak for itself and will represent all of us.
Thank you.
Sheree D
Wojciechowski told LifeSiteNews that when he heard of the board’s decision to fly the pride flag, he viewed it as his “duty as a parent to speak out.”
“With board after board across the province caving to LGBT pressure, I knew that this would eventually come home,” he explained. “When I found out that activists were forcing this issue on our trustees, I reached out to the board instantly and sent in my delegation registration.”
During his speech to the board, Wojciechowski explained that the pride flag “represents the homosexual and transgender pride movement, a movement that promotes sexual immorality. It represents transhumanism: a rejection of God’s creation as male and female.”
He asked: “Are you willing to stand here today as guardians of the Catholic education in this board and publicly renounce the Catholic Church’s teaching on human sexuality, marriage, the family, and what it means to be human?”
Wojciechowski explained that while the board might have good intentions in flying the pride flag, such as trying to encourage love and inclusivity, the pride flag is the wrong symbol to use. Instead, Wojciechowski encouraged the board to turn to the ultimate symbol of love: the Cross.
“The cross is a symbol that you are searching for,” he declared. “Take up the cross; embrace it with all your heart. It is the symbol of love, mercy, inclusion, and acceptance. You won’t find love anywhere but Christ.”
“We will not find what we are seeking in the pride flag; we will not find it in political slogans; no, we can only find it in our Lord Jesus Christ,” Wojciechowski stated.
He explained that accepting the LGBT flag jeopardizes the souls of children as it “reduces them to their sexual attraction and desires.”
“As Catholic parents and Catholic educators, we owe it to our children to guide them in the truth and to encourage them to seek refuge in Christ,” Wojciechowski said.
“I believe this is a wonderful opportunity for a board to lead the way, to be Catholic leaders among school boards in the province, to be a reminder of what Catholic education is and what it is not, to act in the best interest of their students, and more importantly to lead them to holiness,” he added.
Wojciechowski quoted St. Paul, saying, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world.”
Unfortunately, many Catholic schools have caved to pressure by LGBT activists and will fly pride flags during the month of June. However, increasingly, Ontario parents are fighting back as hundreds of students, reportedly predominantly Muslim, stayed home earlier this month when their schools flew the flag.
Parents have also begun to speak out against LGBT agenda being promoted to their children in schools. Pro-LGBT school trustee Wendy Ashby recently resigned after over 3,000 parents petitioned for her ousting.
Similarly, last month, a group of young Canadians protested a school-sponsored drag queen event in front of York Mills Collegiate Institute in Toronto.
“The pride movement’s goal is to divide and conquer,” Wojciechowski told LifeSiteNews. “It forces its way into Catholic institutions in order to cause division among Christians, to create fear among the faithful, to impose sexual immorality on young people, to lead them away from a life of virtue.”
“Ultimately, the pride movement is a rejection of God’s plan for human sexuality and for what it means to be human,” he added, explaining that the push for the LGBT agenda in schools is part of a “spiritual battle, not against man, but against the forces of evil.”
“Each one of us is searching for love, for mercy, for healing and we will not find these things in the pride flag, in the LGBT movement, or any political ideology,” Wojciechowski explained.
“What we are seeking we can only find in Jesus Christ, His cross, and glorious resurrection,” he added.