June is here, and that means it’s time for the annual festival of bacchanalia and depravity known as “gay pride.” In just one case, thousands of homosexuals from across North America will descend on Canada’s largest city for Pride Toronto, consisting of several days of activities centred on the pleasures of the flesh – more specifically, with same sex partners.

The occasion offers a good opportunity to consider what the homosexual movement is doing to recruit new, young charges to its ranks. A review of contemporary events and news items reveals that in fact, much is being done.

Of course, the most recent notable example is the Marc Hall case, in which a coalition of pro-homosexual groups and individuals jumped behind a Catholic high school student in Durham Region in his successful bid (via the courts) to bring a same-sex partner to the prom. Among Hall’s supporters were some usual suspects, such as Ontario MPP George Smitherman and MP Allan Rock. But more surprising was the participation of the Canadian Auto Workers (a self-described “activist union”) and its president Buzz Hargrove. (The CAW has also endowed a $1 million chair in social justice and democracy at Toronto’s Ryerson University, which is being claimed by Judy Rebick, a former employee and spokesperson for Henry Morgentaler.)

Observers have alarmingly noted the extent to which the homosexual movement has moved beyond seeking mere acceptance and equality, to challenging some of our basic social norms and institutions, usually through the courts and various rights tribunals, and with the backing of some key movers and shakers.

Of course, if the homosexual cause is to be viable in the long run, it needs to ensure that its message is getting through and influencing young people. Often, that is done through school systems. The Marc Hall case is, in fact, just the tip of the iceberg.

The Toronto District School Board’s Human Sexuality Program, for example, employs Steven Solomon, a school social worker who runs what he calls “family values” workshops, mainly for primary and junior school students. He talks “to six-year-olds about lesbians” and shows young people videos about gay and lesbian families, according to the homosexual magazine Xtra!

But Solomon isn’t the only “educator” working within the Toronto District School Board who preaches against “homophobia” and for the homosexual ethic. “He’s part of an increasing number of Toronto public school pioneers who are addressing these issues with primary and junior school students,” says Xtra!

Last August, the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario passed a resolution encouraging school boards to fund each school in purchasing materials that reflect lesbian, gay, bisexual and – if you can believe it – transgender “realities.” As well, the Toronto District School Board in 1999 passed an “anti-homophobia equity policy” that required principles related to “anti-homophobia,” sexual orientation and equity be reflected right across the school board.

This has resulted in activism by teachers at the classroom level. Gini Dickie, a Grade 6 teacher at Toronto’s Lord Dufferin Junior and Senior Public School, subtly includes gay and lesbian content in her teaching. She includes on a math test questions about a gay couple’s purchases, for example.

In the heart of Toronto’s “gay ghetto,” at Church Street Junior Public School, “anti-homophobia education” is taught year-round as part of a program called We’re Erasing Hate for Good.

Supporting these efforts is the notorious National Film Board of Canada, which has produced videos for classroom use called Celebrating Diversity: Resources for Responding to Homophobia. And, although not part of the Celebrating Diversity series, a video called In the Flesh explores “trans-sexuality” through the use of nudity and coarse language.

Concerned parents have fought back against this oppression and proselytization, however. Thousands of them across Canada have filed a Declaration of Parental and Family Rights with their childrens’ schools, stipulating that the pupils be excluded from classes that portray the lifestyles of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and those who have undergone sex changes, as normal.

This reporter was treated to a first-hand look at gay proselytization of youth when he sat in on a “Let’s Talk Sex” seminar for Toronto school students at the Women’s Health Forum and Expo in Toronto this past January. A co-ordinator for Teens Educating and Confronting Homophobia was allowed to address the young charges.

“So we also want to let you know, in this workshop, that we’re here to talk about sex,” she said. “We’re also here to talk about sexuality … We’re really in the classroom to talk a lot about coming out, sexual orientation.”

“No one knows why people are gay, lesbian or bi-sexual,” she added. “And whichever way you come to being the sexual orientation you are, that’s okay.”

A “Rainbow Youth” conference mostly for those aged 15-25 (although those slightly outside those ages might also have been admitted) was held May 10-12 at a Guelph, Ont. environmental camp and was sponsored by the University of Guelph Central Students Association Human Rights Office. It encouraged youth to share, socialize and create a province-wide network of “queer activists.”

Over in B.C., a human rights tribunal ruled in early April that the North Vancouver School District was guilty of discriminating against one of its high school students because it did not have a district-wide program in place to stop the bullying of homosexuals. It ordered the school district to pay the student $4,000 for injuries to “his dignity.”

That follows the continuing controversy in Surrey, B.C., where homosexual activists are pursuing to the Supreme Court of Canada a school board policy keeping gay-positive books out of primary classrooms.

Report magazine has reported on the growth in “gay-straight alliance” groups in B.C. schools, raising concerns that the groups are being used as vehicles to recruit students into homosexuality.

Back in Toronto, homosexual activists were celebrating last summer after the Big Brothers organization of Toronto dropped a question on sexual orientation from its screening questionnaire. The move was prompted by a complaint from the homosexual lobby group Equality for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere.

Worse yet, Big Brothers Toronto awarded its Big Brother of the Year award for two years in a row to a homosexual, in 2000 and 2001.

Of course, one must not forget the influential role of the media in softening attitudes toward homosexuality and making it a more acceptable lifestyle choice for young people. Researchers have credited the promotion of homosexuality in popular TV shows for massive increases in the practice of homosexual sex among Americans.

Even homosexual activist groups have agreed that TV and film promotions boost their cause. Cathy Renna, of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, said that, “Having a show like Will and Grace, If These Walls Could Talk 2, or (other) films that are out there – that’s a way to really reach people in an accessible, non-threatening way.”

Whether in the schools, courts, community organizations or the media, the state of affairs has led figures including Focus on the Family founder and president Dr. James Dobson to warn parents to be aware of the level to which the homosexual agenda is being promoted. His sentiments are echoed by Kari Simpson, founder of the Langley, B.C.-based Citizens Research Institute. “Parents need to realize that either they will be in control of their children’s education, or someone else will,” she said.