Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) teacher Paolo De Buono sent an email to a priest saying he will be forbidden from speaking about sexual orientation and gender identity to his students. .“When you visit my classroom, you are not permitted to make comments that marriage is only for a male-female couple, that there are only two genders, and that only males can be priests,” said De Buono in an email. .“You are not permitted to make negative comments about the Pride images or the non-cisgender image of Jesus.” .If the priest makes such comments, De Buono said “I will ask you to leave my classroom immediately.” He said he does not speak about Catholic teachings about sexual orientation, gender identity, or woman priesthood because it would promote discrimination. .When the teacher’s class attends a mass in a school gym or church, the email said he would stand up and note aloud why what the priest said is discriminatory if these teachings are spoken about. He will invite students to an area outside the school gym or church if any of them are hurt or offended. .De Buono said the main purpose of this email is "to be preventative.” There are priests who believe they can make these statements to a Catholic class, and some of them do so. .“However, my class is a part of a Catholic school board that is fully public, not private, and I have an obligation to protect their Ontario- and Canada-based human rights as much as possible,” he said. .Campaign Life Coalition (CLC) condemned De Buono in July for going against Catholic teachings about contraception and abortion. .“His employer, the Board of Trustees, has legal justification to terminate his employment,” said CLC director of political operations Jack Fonseca. .“De Buono’s actions represents total defiance towards the moral teachings that he is ethically, spiritually, and contractually obligated to uphold as an employee of the Board, which is itself an arm of the Catholic Church.”
