Local comedienne Dawn Whitwell says the Toronto Catholic District School Board barred her from performing at an anti-homophobia event because of what they termed her “affiliation with gay marriage.” The extent of her “affiliation” appears to be that she is gay, and she is married to a woman.
“I am married, that’s all it means,” she said. “I don’t run a fan club for gay marriage or anything.”
Whitwell says she was approached by a teacher at Bishop Marrocco-Thomas Merton Secondary School at the end of May and asked to perform her act for students as part of an event on June 7 to raise awareness about homophobia. Last Thursday, the same teacher told her that a lawyer for the Toronto Catholic District School Board had done a Google search for Whitwell and discovered she was married to her female partner, and that the board had determined she was not welcome at the event.
“It doesn’t make sense that you would be asked to speak because you’re gay and (then be disinvited because you’re married),” Whitwell said. “It’s almost like you’re too gay. Who would be the ‘correctly gay enough’ person to speak about homophobia?”
Whitwell has been given no indication that the board took issue with the content of the standup routine she planned to perform.
Emmy Szekeres Milne, a spokesperson for the Toronto Catholic District School Board, has since told the media that board members were concerned that as a comedienne, Whitwell might make light of homophobia. “The decision was strictly based on the fact that she was a comedienne and they really felt that it wasn’t a good fit,” Szekeres Milne told the Globe and Mail.
Szekeres Milne also said the event was an anti-bullying, not anti-homophobia, workshop, but Whitwell received an email from the organizing teacher beforehand that made clear the event was geared towards combating anti-gay stereotypes.
The email asserted the purpose of the event was to teach students there is a parallel between homophobia and other forms of discrimination such as racism and sexism, and that regardless of what students may think about the act of homosexual sex, there are commonalities between all people.
“The board is outright lying about it,” Whitwell said.
Whitwell herself attended Catholic high school during the 1980s and had hoped that participating in the event would give current students an opportunity she never had.
“When I was in high school I didn’t even know I was closeted, that’s how closeted I was,” she said. “It would have really been cool if teachers could have been out, or if people who came in to speak to us were out.”
The teacher who organized the anti-homophobia declined to be interviewed for this article, and Whitwell believes she fears for her job at Bishop Marrocco,
Whitwell’s story is only the latest incident of Toronto-area Catholic school boards inciting controversy over policies towards queer issues. Students have fought a protracted battle against the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board over efforts to form student groups called Gay Straight Alliances, and this week it was reported that the same board was discouraging the use of rainbows, a popular queer symbol, at school events.
Update: Toronto Catholic District School Board clarifies position
On June 9, Emmy Szekeres Milne of the Toronto Catholic District School Board, had this to say about how speakers for school events are chosen:
“The board basically screens all presenters based on whether the material that they’re presenting is appropriate from two perspectives. One is certainly our beliefs and Catholic traditions, that’s part of it. And we would also look at the age appropriateness of the material.”
When asked if an openly gay person or a person married to a same-sex partner would be allowed to speak at a Catholic school, Szekeres Milne said she would not answer hypothetical questions, but referred NOW to the board’s policy that outlines criteria for who should be allowed to make presentations to students.
Gay marriage is not specifically mentioned in the policy, which instead states “presentations must be in harmony with … the Mission and Vision Statement of the TCDSB.” Considering that the mission statement includes the need to provide students with “role models of Gospel values and Catholic doctrines” and the “integration of Catholic beliefs into the total learning experience,” it is difficult to imagine how an openly gay woman married to her same-sex partner would ever be approved under the board’s policy.
