Police called after school meeting about Pride flag goes off the rails (VIDEOS)

Police were called to a Catholic school board meeting in Aurora, Ontario, on Tuesday evening after a discussion based on raising the Pride flag boiled over.

The York Catholic District School Board (YCDSB) held the meeting at the Catholic Education Centre to discuss whether or not to raise the flag at York Catholic schools during Pride month in June.

Shortly after the first speaker, security guards at the board meeting began to remove audience members who protested the raising of the flag. Over time, the commotion grew as angry parents spilled into the hallway outside the boardroom.

YCDSB teacher and parent, Paolo De Buono, was set to speak in support of raising the flag at the meeting; however, he received an email from the board informing him that based on his “speaking notes,” his delegation would not be heard.

In a video uploaded to Twitter by De Buono, furious parents can be heard calling him a “radical teacher” and even a “pedophile.”

I was surrounded in the lobby by York Catholic parents against flying the Pride flag, & I told them:

“I am not afraid.”

(And then a York Region superintendent escorted me back into the board room.) pic.twitter.com/XAguY5UkMd

— Paolo De Buono, 🌈 #BLM, MSc, JD, OCT (@misterdebuono) April 26, 2023

“I saw students crying, in fear, in the board room, as they heard York Catholic community members shouting angrily from the lobby,” he wrote on Twitter. “How can such a simple but important form of recognition, a Pride flag, cause so many in York Region to become so angry?”

#BREAKING Police called in to manage the crowd at the York Catholic District School Board meeting. The topic of raising the Pride flag at YCDSB schools this June sparked this scene. The man at the beginning who you are seeing get swarmed was there to support raising the flag. pic.twitter.com/WLcYfezmhl

— Michelle Mackey (@michellemackey) April 26, 2023

De Buono also uploaded his delegation speaking notes on Twitter, which reads in part, “Today, I am ashamed as a York Catholic parent that York Catholic is the only Catholic board in the GTA that is not flying the Pride flag.”

This was my 4-page delegation as submitted in time. It’s not offensive or hurtful. It’s on point.

And this has been my point. A board like York Catholic, using the Fully Alive textbook, effectively believes & teaches what Myles said at 2:27 & after in his delegation.

2/2 pic.twitter.com/ieJ6LXUaMb

— Paolo De Buono, 🌈 #BLM, MSc, JD, OCT (@misterdebuono) April 26, 2023

“I am deeply concerned that York Catholic’s obstinance in not flying the Pride flag is a red flag about how its 2SLGBTQI+ students are being treated in York Catholic schools and that 2SLGBTQI+ students do not feel safe within York Catholic schools,” the notes continue.

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Despite the crowd of angry parents that confronted De Buono outside of the boardroom, dozens of people on social media flocked to the video to leave the educator supportive comments.

Your courage in the face of such hatred is incredible. We’re with you Paolo ✊🏽

— 🅹🆄🅻🅸🆄🆂 (@CallMeJulius) April 26, 2023

Others couldn’t understand why some parents were so furious about raising the flag during Pride month.

I don’t understand how a Pride flag could be so offensive to people. Would they feel the same if their child were part of the LGBTQ community, do they harbor that much hate? We all know the flags that are offensive, this isn’t one of them.

— Marley 🇨🇦 😁 (@MTW2478) April 26, 2023

Several commenters called on the school board to raise the flag and show their support to 2SLGBTQI+ students.

Literally the only Catholic board that refuses to fly the Pride flag. Get with it @YCDSB

— M (@monimed6) April 26, 2023

Considering all the commotion that occurred, the board trustees did not vote on raising the flag.

Back in March, York Regional Police were called into a separate YCDSB meeting after it was disrupted by several parents protesting “safe space stickers,” which are used to signal a positive space of acceptance for 2SLGBTQI+ students.

Parents who were part of the protest claimed that the stickers conflicted with their Catholic faith, and disagreed with the message behind the signage.