YCDSB Trustees Reject Motion to Display Pride Flag Next Month

The York Catholic District School Board (YCDSB) has recently voted against a motion that would have allowed the Pride flag to fly in front of its education centre in June.

On Monday night, trustees voted 6-4 against the motion, sparking outrage from the LGBTQ+ community and their supporters throughout York Region.

Prior to this meeting, tensions had been running high with multiple disruptions from hecklers in the gallery. Police were even called on several occasions to deal with these outbursts, with many shouting directly at students who were fighting for the Pride flag to fly over their schools.

The board attempted to quell such disturbances by requiring those attending to sign in and show identification and providing a code of conduct letter.


Tristan Coolman from Pflag York Region supported the students' effort to push for representation and inclusion within their schools and saw this as an opportunity for positive change within the local community.

Despite multiple delegations, including letters, petitions and heartfelt pleas from students, a committee report presented at Monday's meeting recommended flying the flag at the Catholic Education Centre - not individual schools like many other Ontario boards do.

Mark Brosens, a YCDSB spokesperson, explained that it was up to the board of trustees to decide if they wanted to amend or create any new policies regarding flags flown on school property - currently only allowing for Canadian flags to be flown on pole flags.

Coolman expressed his disappointment following Monday's vote but remains hopeful that things will eventually change given how much support there is amongst people across the York Region advocating for recognition and acceptance of LGBTQ+ rights.

In recent years there has been an increased effort around celebrating diversity and equality, so hopefully it won't be long until similar changes are seen within YCDSB school communities too.

Source: City News