Parents Increasingly Speaking Out About Gender, Sexuality in Canadian Schools

Jodi Doary, a mother in the small town of Lorette, Manitoba, now pre-reads all of the books her Grade 9 son is assigned at school after discovering some short stories included the mention of prostitution, smoking, and drinking and contained bad language. His teacher sent home a book in November, knowing that Ms. Doary would screen it. The teacher spoke highly of it and expressed no qualms about the content. The book, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” by Sherman Alexie, includes a passage where the main character speaks in detail about masturbation. He peppers his soliloquy with references to God....