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Letter: Respect should be paid in regard to sexual equity
The issue of alternate sexualities and genders is once again a divisive subject as the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board now seeks public input on their Draft Gender Equity Strand of the Equity Policy. Some have expressed the 'respect for all' approach, I wonder then what true respect looks like.
This topic can have a severe impact on students and the public as a whole and so it is important that it be dealt with using evidence and critical-thinking rather than through ideology and political correctness. Ultimately, it is always helpful that response to this be compassionate yet not veil the truth revealed through evidence. In searching for evidence, a look at the staff training package assembled by the board is useful.
Regarding the mental health of those who identify themselves as being of alternate sexuality, the training package contained a document which indicated that those who identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual or unsure were, "3.4 times more likely to report a suicide attempt in the previous 12-month period." With regard to the physical health of this same group, an article in the package stated that, "HIV disproportionately affects men who have sex with men in every region of the world, but we are ignoring this reality."
Not included in this training package was a table from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care which was presented at an HIV Conference at the University of Toronto in February 2007. This table indicates that for Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) within the Region of Toronto, that 19.6 per cent or one in five men were HIV positive in 2004 and by 2008 this rate of infection would increase to 25 per cent or one in four men.
Denying this acknowledged evidence must then be ideologically based and in fact hurtful to the very people the Equity Policy is claiming to protect. Respect in this context is defined as ‘to hold in high or special regard. I fail to see how applying an ideologically based policy which ignores acknowledged evidence is respectful of our students, no matter how they identify themselves sexually.
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