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w w w . o a kv ill eb ea ve r.c o m O A KV IL LE B EA V ER Fr id ay , Ja nu ar y 14 , 2 01 1 6 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5571 Classified Advertising: 632-4440 Circulation: 845-9742 Open 9-5 weekdays, 5-7 for calls only Wed. to Friday, Closed weekends The Oakville Beaver Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. OPINION & LETTERS Letters to the editor The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, ON, L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to editor@oakville- beaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. Were pleased the Halton Catholic District School Board is taking another look at its controversial policy banning gay-straight alliance student clubs at its schools. Hopefully, the decision to re-examine this issue is more than just damage control in the wake of the unfor- tunate comments attributed to board chair Alice Anne LeMay last week. In case you missed it, LeMay was quoted as saying, We dont have Nazi groups either, in an interview discussing the ban with a reporter from Xtra, Canadas gay and les- bian newspaper. Her quote went viral on the internet sparking wide- spread condemnation and has resulted in a petition demanding the Catholic school board rescind its ban. Re-examining the ban was pushed by two new Halton Catholic trustees, John Mark Rowe, of Halton Hills, and Paul Marai, of Oakville, who is gay. Unfortunately, trustees such as LeMay, who feel con- flicted by their strict interpretation of the Bible, do not realize the harm they are causing many of the youths, including gays and lesbians, who are entrusted in their care. On the one hand the board preaches, social or cultur- al discrimination is incompatible with Catholic moral principles, but follows with what can best be described as a dont ask, dont tell policy with regard to sexual orien- tation. The underlying message they are sending is that stu- dents questioning their sexual identity are abnormal and should feel guilty about their feelings. This is wrong and psychologically harmful to those students. It is also sending out a message to the rest of the stu- dent body that it is okay to ostracize and ridicule these students because they are not within the teachings of the Catholic church. If you doubt this, we urge you to read the heart- wrenching letter, Parent fears for safety of gay son, on opposite side of this page. We are encouraged by the words of Halton Catholic student trustee Clarisse Schneider at Tuesdays board meeting, who spoke out against the policy. First, it is saying that supporting gay peers and accepting them is wrong, that being yourself is wrong. A gay-straight alliance is nothing to do with homosexual activity, it is about acceptance and belonging, what this very policy tries to achieve. The second, our actions teach our students that if you dont agree with something then ban it. Is that what we teach children in our care? We can only hope her elders at the board table were lis- tening and follow her lead and rescind their harmful pol- icy. The Oakville Beaver is a division of NEIL OLIVER Vice President and Group Publisher of Metroland West DAVID HARVEY Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution SARAH MCSWEENEY Circ. Manager The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to catego- rize advertisements or decline. Letter to the editorBan is wrong THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: ATHENAAward THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIALMEDIASPONSOR FOR: Recognized for Excellence by Canadian CirculationAudit Board Member Canadian CommunityNewspapers AssociationOntario CommunityNewspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America Pud BY STEVE NEASE neasecartoons@gmail.com Parent fears for safety of gay son I am writing from the emer- gency ward at Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital, where my son is recovering from an attempted sui- cide. Everyday he curses that he is gay because of the bullying and abuse he experiences. I am not na enough to believe that all of his fellow teenagers are accepting of his orientation. If he could conform to what many believe is normal, he surely would. I'd like to believe that our society is better accepting of sexual orienta- tion and the like; but, it seems that we have a ways to go. There are many days that I have had to wipe eggs off of our windows and our home while the disapproving public shows its disapproval for my son. This is truly the ugly of our society. My son is a loving boy and it is extremely sad that he is so often judged by his sexual orientation rather than the wonderful qualities of his character. Like many citizens of the Halton region, and it seems to be spreading into an international concern, I was appalled by the self-appointed moral authority that Halton Catholic District School Board chair Alice Anne LeMay has taken with her pub- licly stated beliefs with regard to what the Catholic school board (in this case Halton) needs to practice. My immediate priority is to get my son out of the hospital and into safety. Once the urgency of this passes, I for one will be delving into what appears to be hateful and des- picable beliefs by LeMay some- one entrusted by the public as a leader for the care and betterment of our children supposedly all chil- dren. The comparison of gay groups to Nazi groups is unforgivable. Even Keep gay-straight alliance club ban We approve the action taken by trustees of the Halton Catholic District School Board to deny cre- ation of gay-straight-alliance clubs in their schools. This approach was outlined by the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario for all Catholic school boards. Much of the criticism comes from out- side the Halton region; indeed much of it comes from lobby groups in the U.S. who neither financially support nor have chil- dren in our school system. Our Halton trustees are more than capable of managing our school affairs. DOUG MURRAY, OAKVILLE See God page 8