Father says son was told to pretend to be gay and practice “coming out” as part of class project
TOM ZYTARUK Oct. 3, 2017
Surrey school district spokesman Doug Strachan found himself explaining the utility of a Surrey Grade 8 lesson on “open-mindedness” this week after a writer describing himself as a Surrey father expressed outrage about it.
The dad wrote the Now-Leader that his son was told to pretend to be gay and practice “coming out” as part of a class project at Johnston Heights secondary school.
“It is completely ridiculous that teachers are teaching this to Grade 8 students without any notice to parents at all,” the online news tip read. “To ask him to pretend to be gay goes strongly against our family’s religious beliefs and is completely disrespectful to my family. This goes far beyond teaching kids to be kind to everyone. I view this as nothing other than propaganda.”
For his part, Strachan said the father’s take on what happened in the classroom “wouldn’t be a fair characterization of the lesson.”
The Now-Leader reached out to the father for comment. “I am not contacting anyone by phone due to the sensitive and political nature of the topic,” he eventually replied by email. “My children still have to go to school. The school district has said the lesson was modified. I do not know how any modification can make it acceptable though.”
The Surrey dad included in his email to the newspaper photos he said his son took of a paper left by one of the teachers. “As you can see, it goes into depth of getting students to ‘experience’ what it is like to be homosexual.”
It’s entitled “COMING OUT” STARS. The source is Jeff Pierce, University of Southern California.
The plan is discussed in a book entitled SAFE ZONES: Training Allies of LGBTQIA + Young Adults, edited by Kerry John Poynter.
SOURCE : https://www.surreynowleader.com/news/surrey-grade-8-lesson-on-open-mindedness-draws-fire/
