Inclusiveness sign at an elementary school

I was at a fun fair at my kids' school, and I saw this on the wall in a classroom.

In case it is hard to read, the caption at the bottom reads "Includes Everybody"

Upon further investigation, I realized that it was in every classroom, usually posted in an obvious place, like right next to the main doorway. In at least one classroom it was hidden near a corner at the top of a chalkboard, but that did not seem to be the norm.

The cell phone picture is so blurry that I can't make out a few of the symbols and don't remember what they were, but notice the one on the top left, which represents Pride. This never would have been allowed when I was in grade school. I like how this goes against the notion that children must be protected from knowledge that non-heterosexuality exists... what I would like even more is if all relationships were just seen as normal this type of sign wasn't necessary, but I'll take what I can get.

I'm not sure how well the school itself follows these ideas, or how well they actually teach inclusiveness, but I am told that the new VP is very concerned about such things, which I find fantastic.

Toronto Pride and the term Israeli Apartheid

I just found out that the directors of Toronto's Pride Parade have banned the use of the term "Israeli Apartheid" at this year's parade. This is aimed at the group Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QuAIA), which has been involved in the Pride Parade for several years. I think that it is interesting that Pride, a group that is all about inclusion (so much so that their theme is "you belong") is taking it upon themselves to censor a group who is making a political message that I think can be compared to the statement that Pride was making when they began 30 years ago.

Their argument is that some people believe that the name is discriminatory, anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli. I am by no means an expert on the topic of Israeli Apartheid (according to my spell check, I hardly know how to spell it), but I would like to make a few comments on this anyway.... and anyone with more knowledge who wishes to add/clarify/correct something is more than welcome to comment.

Let's start this very simply... from wiki, the crime of apartheid is "committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime." United Nations reports seem to consistently show that the current regime is comparable to apartheid in South Africa (see here)

This is not anti-semitic. Antisemitism defined (again using wikipedia, which may not be the most reliable source, but I believe is useful for this purpose) is prejudice against or hostility towards jews, often rooted in hatred of their ethnic background, culture and/or religion. I don't understand how being opposed to the oppression of a group of people based on their race/ethnicity can be confused with hostility towards a different group, some of whom happen to be part of the dominant group in one particular country.

I can only think of two explanations. First, is ignorance. Those who are confusing the term "Isreali apartheid" with antisemite do not understand the meaning of these terms or the living conditions of Palestinians in Israel. But the politicians do understand this, as do the organizers of Toronto Pride, I am sure.

The other explanation is financial. The current Israeli regime is backed by the American government. Just two months previous to this decision, the Ontario legislature passed a resolution condemning Israeli Apartheid week, which is held at several universities. Last month, the federal government withdrew $400,000 in funding for Toronto Pride, a decision that is rumored to be connected to QuAIA. Now, the Toronto mayoral candidate motioned to deny funding to the parade if QuAIA is allowed to participate, on the grounds that it would be in breach of the city's anti-discrimination policy. Directors at Pride were concerned about the risk of losing this funding.

Queer Ontario founder and spokesperson Nick Mulé states

It appears Pride Toronto has opted to appease some City officials applying pressure based on misinformation regarding QuAIA and the use of the term ‘Israeli apartheid’, rather than work directly with the community in educating the City to develop a nuanced understanding of the human rights and discrimination issues at play.

I have heard it argued that Israeli Apartheid isn't a Pride issue, as it is not directly connected to sexuality or heterosexism. This argument is used to keep leftist movements separate, which means that they are containable. When organizers at Pride are separated from those at QuAIA, which are separated from feminist organizing and from socialism, it keeps special interest groups small enough that they cannot disrupt the status quo. I would like to applaud QuAIA for becoming involved with both groups, for building that coalition, as I believe it is only through these coalitions that change can occur.

More cuts, this time to Pride funding

There has been a fair amount of coverage over the past few weeks on recent cuts to women's programs in Canada, and now the federal government announced that it is not giving any funding to Toronto's Pride Parade. In comparison, last year they received $400,000, which is estimated to have translated into $6 million in economic activity in Toronto that week.

Last year, conservative Member of Parliament, Diane Ablonczy, lost her position as tourism minister after approving funding for the Pride Parade, and other conservative MPs went as far as to apologize to "pro-life" and "pro-family" groups.

Tracey Sandilands, the festival's executive director, said “We believe this sends the message that queer events are not worthy investing in,” and noted that Pride was the only queer event to receive any support from the federal government in over two years.

It is not only access to abortion and funding to women's groups currently under attack in Canada. We need to foster solidarity between various leftist movements to protect everybody's rights. It starts with funding, but, if we don't speak out now, I fear that we will lose so much more of what activists have fought so hard for.