04/08/2002 "Gay student to address school board - Peter Small, Staff Reporter"

Gay student to address school board - Peter Small, Staff Reporter
A gay student barred by an Oshawa Catholic high school from taking his boyfriend to the prom is to ask his school board on Monday to overturn the decision.

A gay student barred by an Oshawa Catholic high school from taking his boyfriend to the prom is to ask his school board on Monday to overturn the decision.

"I just want to talk to them personally," Marc Hall, 17, told a news conference at Queen's Park yesterday.

A Durham Catholic District School Board staff member confirmed that Hall will be allowed to speak at the meeting. He tried to address the board on March 25 but wasn't allowed
to speak after the chair, Mary Ann Martin, said the matter was not on the agenda.

"If nothing happens April 8, I'll probably take legal action," the Grade 12 student said.

In a brief submitted to the board on Tuesday, Hall says he could have simply shown up with his 21-year-old date for the Monsignor John Pereyma Catholic Secondary School prom but was afraid he might be turned away at the door.

"Friends of mine thought it would be a good idea to get the okay in advance of the prom in order just to make sure this wouldn't happen," Hall's five-page brief says. "This seemed like a good idea, so I asked Principal (Michael) Powers and by now we all know what the answer was. I was
actually surprised at this decision."

Hall says he isn't trying to challenge the board or Catholic teachings. "I was only trying to avoid disappointment on the night of the prom."

He and his boyfriend could have attended without the board's knowledge by going as other people's dates. "But I didn't think that would be honest," he wrote.

Hall told reporters he felt rejected and betrayed by his school.

"They teach you in Grade 12 morality that there is absolutely nothing wrong with homosexuality and yet they contradict what they teach," he said. Hall added that he believes the board misinterpreted Catholic doctrine. "I believe in a God that loves everybody." Other Ontario Catholic boards have allowed same-sex partners to go to school dances, he said.

Buzz Hargrove, president of the Canadian Auto Workers, Toronto Centre-Rosedale MPP George Smitherman, Councillor Joe Mihevc (Ward 21, St.Paul's) and Marilyn Byers, president of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays in York Region joined Hall at the conference.

Mihevc, who is also a Roman Catholic theologian, said he doesn't know of any church teaching or edict that would prevent someone from attending a dance or other event with a same-sex partner.

Hargrove said Hall deserves credit for standing up for who he is. "This is a simple question of basic human rights." In interviews, Hall's parents, Audy and Emily Hall, said they are proud of their son but this has been a stressful time.

Audy Hall, 61, said he has trouble falling asleep at night. "I think the message that the school board is sending is that honesty does not always pay," he said, adding he doesn't think the board will back down.