

Codi Wilson, CP24.com





A Toronto parents’ group has launched a petition demanding that the province’s Catholic teachers’ union back out of the World Pride Parade in Toronto this summer.

On the website for Parents As First Educators (PAFE), the group says the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) has announced plans to march in the World Pride Parade to “show its support for Gay-Straight Alliances and its lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, two-spirited and queer (LGBTTQ) members.”

In a news release sent out on Easter Monday, PAFE’s president Teresa Pierre claims the June 29 event is “inconsistent with what the Church teaches about homosexuality,” and is urging Catholic voters to sign the petition, which will be sent to Catholic school board trustees.

Pierre said the school board must “step up” to stop the union’s participation because the parade “breaks nudity laws and participants promote homosexual activity, instead of sex in marriage, and simulates extreme behaviour like sado-masochism, which demeans the roles of men and women in loving relationships.”

Pierre also referenced the recent complaints of Toronto District School Board trustees about nudity in the parade.

Representatives from the OECTA could not be immediately reached for comment on Monday night.