Canadian Ad Warns Against Trans "Confusion" 

A right-wing Canadian group has placed an ad in the National Post alleging the LGBT-inclusive curriculum in Toronto schools will “confuse” children about their gender identity.

The full-page ad, which ran yesterday, shows a photo of a young girl and includes the text, “Please! Don’t confuse me. I’m a girl. Don’t teach me to question if I’m a boy, transsexual, transgendered, intersexed, or two spirited.” It also features various quotes from materials given to teachers in Toronto schools, for instance advising them to have students write “gender-bending” versions of traditional fairy tales and read the children’s book Gloria Goes to Gay Pride. The ad, sponsored by the ultraconservative Institute for Canadian Values, is “presenting these optional lessons as mandatory,” reports Canadian gay newspaper Xtra!

“The ad revives the ‘StopCorruptingChildren.com’ campaign that launched last year to protest proposed revisions to the physical and health education curriculum that would include more sex education for younger children,” Xtra! further notes. It also calls on all candidates running in the Ontario provincial election October 6 to oppose the revisions.

The Post has promised to look into why the ad was run, noting that it probably did not meet the paper’s usual standards. LGBT advocates have denounced the ad widely on Twitter and elsewhere, and trans activist Chase Joynt has responded with a parody ad with his own picture and text including “Please! Don’t insult me” and “Teach me to question everything.”