Paolo De Buono has wanted to see Pride flags fly at York Catholic District School Board for some time.
The York Region lawyer and educator has previously delegated to the board about the matter to no avail, along with many others who tried to drive change at the board in 2023.
As Pride Month approaches in June, De Buono hopes he can get a chance to speak to the board again and perhaps get a change.
“It’s frankly embarrassing,” De Buono said of the board’s refusal to fly the flag. “It’s concerning that such a large government organization lacks the political maturity to do something as simply important as flying the Pride flag.”
Advocates are hoping that things could change regarding Pride at YCDSB this year,but the board has not yet indicated it if will open up the discussion again.
The board grabbed significant attention over a months-long saga last year, which began with parents protesting safe space stickers and created multiple weeks of delegations for and against Pride, leading into the Pride flag discussion. While many Catholic and non-denominational public school boards do fly the Pride flag in June, YCDSB has not done so, and its board refused to change that by a 6-4 vote May 2023.
De Buono said he hopes he can be a delegate to trustees about the matter, as he did in 2020.
“I am not naive that flying a Pride flag will solve all issues of systematic homophobia and systemic transphobia in York Region,” he said in his request to the board. “However, flying the Pride flag is a significant step toward making York Region a much safer and more inclusive place for York Region’s students.”
NewmarketToday did not receive a reply to a request for comment from York Catholic District School Board before publication deadline.
However, a board member did float the idea of banning most flags on school board premises. Frank Alexander pitched a motion this year to amend flag policy to prevent any flags not related to school, government or Vatican, which he said was due to the board seeing “disunity over the flying of flags.” However, the motion got pushed to the committee level for review and legal analysis and the board has not yet approved it.
Pflag York Region sought to make a delegation regarding that motion, but the board deferred it while it sought legal advice and said that there would be public consultation.
De Buono said he knows many who are invested in seeing the board’s stance on Pride flags change.
“It doesn’t reflect the York Region that exists today,” he said.
