Government Legitimacy and Anti-Discrimination: Considering the Implications for LGBTQ Bullying in Ontario’s Publicly Funded Catholic Schools when Religious and Secular Ideologies Conflict

In the fall of 2015, the long in development Ontario Health and Physical Education curriculum was updated to reflect the current challenges faced by students in Ontario schools. It came not without much controversy, particularly from religious conservatives due to the changes made to language concerning sexuality, homosexuality, and gender identity. This study aimed to ascertain whether the existing environment in Catholic schools was more conducive to LGBTQ student bullying due to heteronormative religious doctrine, and how this doctrine might affect teachers in Catholic schools who must also adhere to secular curricula. It found that scholarly research appeared to be lacking in these areas, and that the lack of studies focused on these issues reflected the Catholic board’s reticence to participate in the research. Furthermore, findings suggest that LGBTQ discrimination might indeed be a greater issue in Catholic schools due to the presence of conflicting religious and secular ideologies, as well as the contradictory instruction given to teachers from various parties with differing beliefs on how Catholic children may be educated