Halton Inside and Out conference addresses
sexual orientation, gender identities

The recent Halton Inside and Out conference, organized by the Halton District School Board’s Spectrum Team, brought together 75 students and 20 teachers to discuss how they can make their schools more welcoming and inclusive for lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender students. 

In 2007, a group of educators formed and became dedicated to shaping school communities into safe and supportive environments for people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. 

At Halton Inside and Out, grades 7 through 12 students participated in an open-space forum in the morning and contributed their suggestions on how to help their schools and the board to be more inclusive. 

In the afternoon, they attended peer-facilitated workshops on various topics related to human rights, health and wellness, activism within their school's gay straight alliance groups, equity and diversity.

Barbara Hall, former Toronto mayor and current Ontario Human Rights Chief Commissioner, was the keynote speaker.

Halton District School Board Diversity Coordinator Suzanne Muir says, “Equity and inclusive education must provide all students with mirrors and windows ─ mirrors to reflect back to students the value of their differences and uniqueness and windows to provide each student with the skills, hopes and dreams to contribute to a caring and just society.” 

The Halton District School Board has made diversity a key issue value for a number of years, as it's embedded in its 2007-2010 Strategic Plan.

Its policy statement on diversity states: “The Halton District School Board values and respects the inherent value of each unique individual: student, parent, staff and community member. The Halton District School Board values and respects the diverse experiences, bodies of knowledge and histories of all people to be integrated into school practice and curricul(um) through community-based representation.”