A female teacher at Northwood Public School in Windsor, Ontario, berated Muslim students who opted out of the district-sponsored Pride events in June, an audio recording obtained by True North, a Canadian news outlet, revealed.
“I want to take a couple minutes to express to you some of my feelings about yesterday,” the teacher said. “We, as a staff at Northwood, were incredibly hurt by the statement you made yesterday for those of you who didn’t come. And, for those of you who were here, I apologize. You need to understand how hurt and disappointed we are in those actions.”
“Nobody in the school is asking you to be gay: we are asking you to be respectful and kind. That is it. And yesterday did not show respect and kindness, and I am disgusted!” the educator says, audibly angry.
In response to the widespread absence, the teacher as well as other staff members decided to deck the school out in LGBT paraphernalia, including rainbows. “All the rainbows you see around the school was because very few people came yesterday and the teachers are angry.”
“Take that home to your parents because they are the ones that made you stay home. It was an incredible show of hatred, and it is sad. It was hatred toward a community of people, and it was incredibly disgusting to have witnessed,” the teacher added.
A statement from school principal Dustin O’Neil to parents following the incident in late June apologized for the teacher’s conduct. “I want to emphasize that the views expressed do not reflect the values of acceptance, inclusion and belonging that make Northwood such an incredible school and community. We are deeply sorry for any harm that has occurred as a result of these comments.”
Northwood Public School did not respond to a request for comment from National Review.
By some estimates, roughly three-quarters of Northwood students did not attend school on June 1, when the annual celebration of “Pride Month” commenced. “For instance, we’ve heard from local parents that Windsor, Ontario’s Northwood Public School saw 600 out of its 800 students stay home on June 1st. That’s a staggering 75% walk-out,” Jack Fonseca, the director of political operations for the Campaign Life Coalition (CLC), a pro-life group, told LifeSiteNews at the time.
Canadian Muslims also found themselves in the crosshairs of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a recent visit to a Calgary, Alberta, mosque. “I ask you, Mr. Prime Minister, please protect our culture, our belief, the sin that you are doing to them,” one congregant implores.
“First of all, there is an awful lot of misinformation and disinformation out there [from] people on social media, particularly fueled by the American right-wing, are spreading a lot of untruths about what is actually…in the curriculum,” the Liberal Party leader responded.
This “is something that is being weaponized by people…of the far right who have consistently stood against Muslim rights,” Trudeau added. “[T]hey are weaponizing the issue of LGBT, which is something that – yes – Islam has strong opinions on. The same way that the religious right in Canada, the Christian right, has strong opinions against, as well. They are using those fears to drive a wedge between a government that will always stand up for all your rights.”
“Just like I will always stand up for the rights of LGBT kids, including if they’re LGBT Muslims…We’re going to defend your rights even when you disagree with us defending other people’s rights.”
The meeting came after an audio recording revealed that another female public-school teacher within the province condemned Muslim students for abstaining from Pride events.
“You think it’s acceptable to not to show up because you think there’s some Pride activities going on at school, right? Oh, that’s fine! You know, because I’m gonna show my opinion by hanging out at the mall. But, meanwhile, all those kids that are involved in Gay-Straight Alliance,” the teacher said, “when we did Ramadan…they showed respect in the class for your religion, right? For your beliefs.”
“It goes two ways! If you want to be respected for who you are, if you don’t want to suffer prejudice for your religion, your color of skin, or whatever, then you better give it back to people who are different from you. That’s how it works!”
“And it isn’t like that in all countries. As I told you, in Uganda, literally, if they think you’re gay, they will execute you. If you believe that kind of thing, then you don’t belong here! Because that is not what Canada believes!”