Windsor teacher 'accosts' Muslim elementary students for not endorsing 'Pride Day' celebrations
Bahira Abdulsalam, an educator and scholar who sits on the Toronto District School Board's Parent Involvement Advisory Committee, says the incident was 'hurtful' and should warrant changes to how Canadians select their educators.
A Muslim educator is denouncing the tirade of a Windsor school teacher as 'hurtful' after she accosted Muslim students for not participating in Pride Day celebrations.
In a recording exclusively obtained by True North, a teacher at Northwood Public School condemned Muslims for not supporting LGBTQ lifestyles under their religion.
She became frustrated when she could not convince them to challenge their parents' beliefs and wished not to teach them. The unidentified teacher ultimately accused her Muslim students of showing "an incredible show of hatred" for not participating in Pride.
The Greater Essex County District School Board (GECDSB) said the incident "is being addressed internally."
EXCLUSIVE: An elementary teacher in Windsor, Ontario berated Muslim students for skipping LGBTQ pride day, telling them their abstention was “disgusting” and “an incredible show of hatred” that makes her not want to be their educator. Recording obtained by @TrueNorthCentre. pic.twitter.com/T7jhFfLHvN
— Élie Cantin-Nantel (@elie_mcn) July 19, 2023
Bahira Abdulsalam, an educator and scholar who sits on the Toronto District School Board's Parent Involvement Advisory Committee, told True North the incident was "so hurtful" and should warrant changes to how Canadians select their educators.
"Those kids, they will get confused. They have a certain identity at home, and they are asked to change their identity at school," she said.
Abdulsalam condemned the Northwood teacher for "trying to make a disconnection between kids and their parents."
Having recently participated in protests against gender ideology, Abdulsalam clarified that Muslims are not against sexual minorities but oppose teaching gender ideology in schools.
"We don't have any problem with them," she said. "We care about our children and don't want them to get the LGBT ideology."
A Leger poll commissioned by SecondStreet.org confirmed that most Ontario parents stand with Abdulsalam on schooling in the province.
The number of parents who believe the public education system has gone in the wrong direction over the last 20 years has nearly doubled since October 2020 (32% to 52%).
"There is a real problem in our schools…where they are taking an extreme side of the LGBT," according to Abdulsalam. She notes this is especially problematic "in the sex education class."
While the educator said Muslims do not necessarily oppose sex education, they believe it must be age appropriate and account for their moral views on sex.
"There are some principles and some ways of teaching sex principles that are aligned with our religion," she said. "[But] we don't want the students or our children at a very early [age] to [receive] sex education."
Over half (51%) of Ontario parents believe teachers and school administrators should make gender and race-related materials available online for parents to view.
Abdulsalam urged Ontario schools to give parents access to those materials before they are taught to students. She said they must also allow parents to opt out of sex education classes, as the province requires.
At Northwood, nearly 600 of 800 students stayed home on Pride Day.
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