CANADA: Catholic School Board Overturns Ban On Gay Student Groups

Earlier this month a Catholic school district in Canada announced that they were banning gay student groups, because, as their spokesperson (pictured left) put it, "We don't have Nazi groups either." Yesterday that ban was overturned.

The Halton Catholic District School Board has struck down a controversial ban on gay-straight clubs that some newly elected trustees say did not reflect their views. The policy, set by the former board before the election last fall, had stated gay-straight alliances “cannot be permitted” even though the Ontario government now recommends such clubs, if requested by a student, as one way to promote a feeling of belonging among students of different sexual orientations. But at a meeting Tuesday attended by dozens of opponents to the ban, including the Canadian Civil Liberties Union, the new trustees voted 6-2 to scrap the clause that had sparked outrage from human rights advocates, sparked a protest petition and drawn a thumb’s-down from celebrity blogger Perez Hilton.