Catholic high schools rebel after school board tells them they can’t fly the Pride flag in June

Nine Catholic high schools have pushed back publicly after the church school board told them they couldn’t fly Pride flags in June.

The Halton Catholic School Board District in Ontario Canada made the decision earlier this week after a four hour meeting and it was met with immediate backlash by students, faculty, and administrators.

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All nine of the district’s schools quickly turned to social media, tweeting out support for the LGBTQ community and disagreement with the decision. Some even changed their account logos to be rainbow-colored or quoted Bible verses about welcoming children.

“My classroom, whether it be face to face or virtual, will always be a safe space for each one of my students and fellow staff members to be exactly who they are,” one teacher tweeted. “I will advocate for you, I will support you, I will accept you.”

“You are beautiful as you are,” St. Ignatius of Loyola tweeted. “Created in God’s image and infinite love. Let’s work to ensure Loyola is a place where everyone feels they belong. We have work to do to ensure everyone is truly treated with dignity, equity, and respect.” They followed it up with a rainbow display of hearts.

“There’s still a huge momentum going. There’s still people in the community sending letters to our board trustees,” Kirsten Kelly, a Burlington student trustee told CBC News.

“It’s just really frustrating and goes to show that a lot of people don’t want to move forward and they are very set back in their ways in trying to defend the fact the 2SLGBTQ+ community shouldn’t be supported by the Catholic community. And it’s just full of bigotry and hatred, which is not what the Bible says.”