Sex education has been a the subject of controversy in Ontario, which is the most populated province in Canada, and holds one of the highest concentrations of Egyptians outside of Egypt. In December 2014, the Government of Ontario announced new initiatives to raise awareness, enhance prevention, and support victims of sexual violence and harassment. As part of these initiatives, Education Minister Liz Sandals finalized a new health and physical education curriculum targeting young people to teach them about gender inequality, healthy relationships, and consent. This curriculum was referred to as ‘Ontario’s Updated SexEd’. The last time it was updated was in 1998.

These new initiatives were not well received by conservative-leaning communities around the Province ... The Canadian Families Alliance mobilized conservative-leaning communities to oppose the new Sex-Ed curriculum. The Alliance organized a full blown campaign against the proposed curriculum, and even hosted rallies in front of the Ontario Parliament. The Coptic community and Coptic Orthodox Church were a major player in this debacle. The Church released a statement opposing the curriculum, stating that “the Government of Ontario is attempting to abduct the parenting responsibility from parents and to force a way of thinking on children without regard for Christian beliefs, morals and values.” The Church of The Virgin Mary and Saint Athanasius in Mississauga other religious organizations even offered bus rides to rallies in Downtown Toronto to oppose this new SexEd curriculum.

My cousin and his family were active in these rallies. I did mention, many years ago, to my cousin's son (when they were visiting for Christmas) that I approved of gay marriage and he wouldn't speak to me for the rest of the visit. He was still kind of pissed off a year later when he came to visit again! (He's grown some and has expanded his horizons, so I'm hoping he's not that close-minded anymore, but I couldn't say for sure ...)

The Coptic Orthodox community also created a counter curriculum to the proposed government curriculum. The Diocese of Mississauga, Vancouver, and Western Canada published a series of books titled, “A Christian Guide to Ontario’s Health and Physical Education Curriculum” ... There are many problems with the counter-curriculum, and one of them revolves around their problematic characterization of consent. Geared towards children in Grade 6, the curriculum describes consent as follows: “The concept of consent is simply a concept that goes hand in hand with the aforementioned concept of 'false freedom.' The world is trying to deceive our children into believing that the say is 'theirs' and not anybody else’s (including God). They are deceived that they can choose for themselves what to do and what not to do with their own bodies.”

That part blows my mind. They can't choose what to do with their own bodies??