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Peter and Murray Corren
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Peter Corren and Murray Corren (born Warren) — Corren is a combination of their former names — are LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...

-rights activists from Vancouver, British Columbia whose complaint before British Columbia's Human Rights Tribunal led to an agreement whereby the provincial Ministry of Education would consult them on how gays are presented in the school curriculum. Peter Corren died of cancer on 30 December 2009.

Background

The Correns, a same-sex couple with one adopted son, are long-time activists for gay rights who have been involved in several high-profile cases. They were among the first gay couples to foster and adopt children in Canada. In the late 1990s, Murray Warren, a Coquitlam schoolteacher, was one of the petitioners in Chamberlain v. Surrey School District
Chamberlain v. Surrey School District No. 36
Chamberlain v. Surrey District School Board No. 36, [2002] 4 S.C.R. 710, 2002 SCC 86, was a case in which the Supreme Court of Canada held that a local school board could not impose its religious values by refusing to permit the use of books that sought to promote tolerance of same-sex...

, a case that dealt with the Surrey School Board's refusal to approve as learning resources several children's books featuring same-sex parents.

They also were petitioners in an early same-sex marriage case that lifted the ban on same-sex marriage in British Columbia.
They were one of the first same-sex couples to marry in Canada.

Human rights complaint

In 1997, Cook and Warren complained to the BC Human Rights Tribunal that public schools in British Columbia discriminated against gays by failing to include information about them in curricula, and that the lack of such representation amounted to systemic discrimination. The Tribunal accepted their case, but as the hearing approached in 2006, the provincial government negotiated a settlement with the Correns by which the province committed itself to review the inclusivity of school curricula and would introduce a new elective course on social justice that would include sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...

, race, ethnicity and gender
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...

 issues. The agreement stipulated that the Correns would be consulted about the section of the new course on sexual orientation and more broadly about the presentation of gays in the broader school curriculum. It also stipulates that the government must solicit feedback directly from organization or groups, identified by the Correns, "with expertise in sexual orientation, homophobia, and other issues of inclusion and diversity in the curriculum". Under the agreement, these organizations are allowed guaranteed input into the revision of any curriculum for any grade, which "they consider should be given priority in light of sexual orientation issues". One controversial feature of the agreement is that the provision of "Alternative Delivery", which allows parents to opt their children out of parts of the curriculum, will be limited to specific courses.

Reactions

As in many cases involving the education system and LGBT issues, the potential for conflict between the human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

 of LGBT people and the religious freedom rights of parents, both of which are protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada. It forms the first part of the Constitution Act, 1982...

, has created significant controversy. Both religious media and mainstream newspaper editorials (most notably the National Post
National Post
The National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...

) have raised concerns about appointing the activists to revise the curricula.

The British Columbia School Act, which governs the public school system in the province, states that public schools "must be conducted on entirely secular and non-sectarian grounds". While faith-based schools nominally have the freedom to teach according to their own religious beliefs, they are required by law to teach the same curriculum as the public system, and thus would be affected by any substantial curriculum changes resulting from the Corren agreement. To date, the government has not stated whether religious schools will be required to teach a curriculum if it conflicts with religious beliefs.

Writing in the British Columbia Catholic, Vancouver Archbishop Raymond Roussin, SM, said of the deal: "This would be clearly contrary to the fundamental and non-negotiable right of parents to raise their family and educate their children. The right of parents to determine how their children receive instruction on matters of faith and morals must be the primary consideration" (4 September 2006). His comments were condemned the following day by Peter Corren as a "homophobic diatribe against Canadian society". (CCRL Press Release, 7 September 2006)

The Corren Agreement has resulted in the curriculum (IRP) for the agreed course on social justice, Social Justice 12, an elective course, being published. This resulted in controversy in one school district, Abbotsford, where the conservative school board had not (as of late 2008) approved the course. This produced protest from some students and from the Correns and their supporters. The agreement has also begun to affect the rest of the curriculum, in part through influencing the revision of course curricula as they come up for revision, and in part through a teachers' guide, Making Space. (See links to the various sections in "Curriculum Support Materials" This guide potentially could influence the teaching of all courses. (See "Background and Rationale")

Links and Bibliography

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