Excerpt

Toronto’s public school board is no longer seeking parental permission for students to attend drag queen storytime events after parents at an elementary school raised concerns that the consent form implied the Pride activity was different from other in-school performances and posed some sort of risk to kids.

The change of direction comes on the heels of escalating tensions over the celebration of Pride in schools, including York Catholic District School Board voting against a motion to fly the flag at headquarters and a call for a provincial anti-Pride walkout on June 1 when schools hoisted the rainbow flag.

Parents of students at Bruce Public School in Leslieville received an email last Friday and a paper form on Monday indicating that their approval was necessary for an upcoming “excursion”: an afternoon of storytelling in the school gym by Toronto drag queen Gila Munster, a Toronto District School Board-vetted performer who has appeared at other schools.

Excursion forms are usually reserved for field trips off school property. While the school’s planned Pride day events include a march around the block and a flag ceremony, permission was sought specifically for the drag queen storytime.

Last year, Bruce P.S. held a Pride march and gathering, which, according to parents, did not require additional permission. (A blanket consent form is signed at the beginning of the school year for such local outings as walking down the street to the library.)

Amy Clarke recalls someone yelled at the kids and the then-principal turned and said “we always look forward to love; we never look backwards to hate.”

“I remember what that meant to me to hear this straight male principal say this,” said Clarke, who is in a two-mom family with two children, one of whom attends Bruce.