NEW YORK – Greek-Canadian Steve Tourloukis asked for notification from his children’s school before they were exposed to “false teachings” including moral relativism, astrology, and wizardry, as well as any mention of same-sex relationships without also noting that such relationships are “unnatural and unhealthy” as reported on Buzzfeed News.
Tourloukis, who is Greek Orthodox, also objected to his two children learning about the environment among other issues. He had the option to remove his children from the school but instead chose to sue when the school refused to comply with all of the many issues on his list. Tourloukis eventually lost the case, but now his arguments are being used in support of the “no” campaign in Australia which has suggested that “gay sex education will become mandatory in Australia if same-sex marriage is legalized,” as reported on Buzzfeed.
In a “no” campaign video, Tourloukis explains, as quoted on Buzzfeed, “I realize how naïve I was back in those days, but you wouldn’t think that two men or two women getting married would have such a profound effect on the education system, but I assure you that it has.”
In the court ruling against Tourloukis, Justice Robert Reid found that “the school had acted reasonably and declined to make an order asserting Tourloukis’ parental authority,” as noted on Buzzfeed.
In a document from 2010 that Tourloukis sent to the school principal noted his demands as follows, and as quoted on Buzzfeed:
- “Values neutral education – instruction of students in ‘moral relativism’ and principles of situational ethics. This ‘ism’ is a central tenet of the religion of ‘Secular Humanism.’
- Occultic principles and practices – witchcraft, black magic, spirit guides, Satanism, wizardry, new age, channeling, astrology, horoscopes, psychic powers and other such practices, which are contradictory to Judeo-Christian principles.
- Environmental Worship – placing environmental issues/concerns above the value of Judeo-Christian principles and human life.
- Instruction in sex education.
- Discussion or portrayals of sexual conduct that we determine to be unnatural/unhealthy (anal sex, oral sex, sadism, masochism, fetishes, bondage, etc.).
- Discussions or portrayals of homosexual/bisexual conduct and relationships and/or transgenderism as natural, healthy.
- Teaching about or the provision of birth-control drugs and devices, without parental consent.
- Teaching that abortion is an acceptable method of birth control and that life does not begin at conception.
- Encouraging the acceptance of infanticide or euthanasia.
- Providing a false sense of security with regard to the effectiveness of condoms in preventing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.”
After denying the requests, the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board told Tourloukis that his children could be excused from sex education classes, but the school could not implement his full list of demands.
“The board referred to its ability to excuse students based on parental request from the sex education segment of the curriculum and invited the applicant to advise the school authorities accordingly,” the decision stated, as reported by Buzzfeed.
Tourloukis then accused the board of discrimination against his family for not accommodating his requests and proceeded to sue demanding that the court proclaim that final authority over his children’s education rested with him and to force the school board to accept all his demands.
In a hearing in 2016 the board noted that Tourloukis’ religious freedom had been impinged, but their decision was based on balancing rights. The court decision read, as quoted on Buzzfeed, “It is the board’s position that withdrawing the applicant’s children from classes containing portions of the curriculum that the applicant found objectionable would be contrary to the values of inclusion and student wellbeing, and could lead to feelings of exclusion or marginalization by students, including the applicant’s children”
As Justice Reid noted in his decision, “The list of objectionable subject matter provided by the applicant was extensive. It would be extremely difficult for teachers to be sufficiently familiar with the variety of concerns raised by parents for individual students so as to advise in advance of their mention in lessons.”
The judge cited Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin’s 2002 decision on books including same-sex parented families which read, as quoted on Buzzfeed, “Exposure to some cognitive dissonance is arguably necessary if children are to be taught what tolerance itself involves. As my colleague points out, the demand for tolerance cannot be interpreted as the demand to approve of another person’s beliefs or practices. When we ask people to be tolerant of others, we do not ask them to abandon their personal convictions. We merely ask them to respect the rights, values and ways of being of those who may not share those convictions. The belief that others are entitled to equal respect depends, not on the belief that their values are right, but on the belief that they have a claim to equal respect regardless of whether they are right. Learning about tolerance is therefore learning that other people’s entitlement to respect from us does not depend on whether their views accord with our own. Children cannot learn this unless they are exposed to views that differ from those they are taught at home.”
Reid also observed that Tourloukis has other educational options available for his children including independent or faith-based schools and even homeschooling, but the public school system “by definition, must provide education to the broadest possible cross-section of the population,” as reported on Buzzfeed.
Videos of Tourloukis are currently being shared throughout Australia according to the article on Buzzfeed, but Education Minister Simon Birmingham said that claims of the decision on same-sex marriage changing the curriculum are “patently ridiculous,” as reported by Australia’s ABC News.
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