NOTE: This article has been edited from a previous version.

The Coptic church is threatening to pull its children from Toronto’s Catholic schools if the board goes ahead with its equity policy, which includes anti-homophobia measures.

Fr. Jeremiah Attaalla of the Ti Agia Maria and St. Demiana the Martyr Coptic Orthodox Church in Etobicoke said his congregation is upset at the Toronto Catholic District School Board’s proposed inclusionary measures.

“In these young grades, we don’t want teachers talking about God creating Adam and Steve,” Attaalla said. “It’s Adam and Eve.”

The Toronto Catholic board has proposed an Equity and Inclusive Education policy that is to be voted on at the end of August.

“The Board recognizes that any form of social or cultural discrimination is incompatible with Catholic moral principles and is in violation of the Ontario Human Rights Code,” reads a template of the policy.

This proposal stems from the firestorm over Catholic students demanding gay-straight alliance groups in schools across Ontario.

But Attaalla said the Coptic Church is vehemently opposed to any education about homosexuality. Attaalla wrote a letter on behalf of four Coptic churches in the city to the Toronto Catholic school board demanding that the teachings remain true to Catholicism.

“Our members do not want gay-straight alliance groups in our Catholic schools,” Attaalla said. “We will pull our children from the Catholic schools if they go ahead with it.”

The Church said it has 4,000 families with children currently attending Toronto Catholic schools. The board purportedly receives $8,000 to $10,000 in public money for each student, which means this could cost the board up to $40 million.

As to the threat of losing thousands of students, school board John Del Grande said, “With declining enrolment, it’s upsetting to lose even one family. If we lost that many it would be a serious concern — that’s enough to fill quite a number of schools.”

The Toronto District School Board already has an inclusionary policy, which leaves the Coptic congregation little choice but the private system, Attaalla said.

“Having our own school may be our only option, especially for people who can’t afford private school,” Attaalla said. “But we are a rich church, so we’ll fund a new school if we have to.”

Helen Kennedy, executive director of Egale Canada, an organization devoted to advancing equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-gendered people in Canadian schools, isn’t surprised by the reaction.

“There is a lot of good, progressive work happening in the Catholic school system for gay rights,” Kennedy said. “But this shows us we still have a lot of work to do.”

Schools with gay-friendly policies have significantly fewer discriminatory incidents than those schools without them. As for gay-straight alliances, Del Grande noted that the Ontario Catholic School trustees’ association has struck a province-wide task force right now that is drafting a “framework” for anti-homophobia clubs required by Queen’s Park and by the Catholic Bishops.

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Attaalla denied his congregation was being discriminatory.

“As Christ said, everyone is welcome to sit at my father’s table,” Attaalla said. “So we don’t discriminate, we just don’t believe in homosexuality.”