Five Ontario Catholic schools pull play featuring cross-dressing boy

CTV News Channel: 'Deeply disappointing' Kris Wells of the University of Alberta says that the cancellation of a play about a cross-dressing boy is an example of censorship.

Five Catholic elementary schools in Ontario have decided to cancel performances of a play that they claim is “not age appropriate” due to themes surrounding gender identity.

Performances of the Carousel Players’ production of “Boys, Girls and Other Mythological Creatures” were cancelled by the five Niagara Catholic District School Board schools after a Facebook thread involving adults condemned it, according to Jessica Carmichael, the production company’s artistic director.

The five schools all cancelled within a 48-hour period and didn’t provide “satisfactory or open” reasons for the cancellation, Carmichael wrote in an open letter.

“I fear these cancellations may be based on misinformation, grown out of fear, intolerance, transphobia, homophobia and misogyny,” read Carmichael’s letter.

The children’s play follows the story of Simon, Abby and Zach who each face fears and transformations through playing and learning. In particular, the character of Simon enjoys dressing up during adventures and transforms into a princess named Simone.

The play was written by Mark Crawford, who said that the main theme revolves around overcoming fear and being able to show your true self. His open letter, posted to the Carousel Players website, said that this decision frightened him in terms of limiting children’s access to art and “big ideas.”

“I get scared when… the motivating factor for cancelling performances of this play is a few adults’ own fear, prejudice and hatred,” Crawford wrote.

A statement posted to Facebook by the school board said that the decision was made, “out of concern that the play was not age-appropriate for a predominately primary audience,” despite the play’s age rating of six to 10-years-old.

The statement also said that the board continues to be a “fully inclusive” school board that “supports all students on their individual journeys.”

However, the act of censorship committed by the school board proves that Catholic schools are still having issues surrounding the discussion of gender identity and gender expression, according to Kristopher Wells, the faculty director of the Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services at the University of Alberta.

“It’s the job of education to create that kind of cognitive dissonance,” Wells told CTV News Channel. “It’s also the job of teachers to help students learn about diversity and difference.

Many comments on the school board’s statement did not support the decision to cancel the performances, instead questioning why the schools did not give students and parents the choice of attending the play instead.

Carmichael also spoke to the Ontario Health and Physical Education curriculum that was approved in 2015 for both public and Catholic schools. The new curriculum states that students in lower grades will be learning about subjects including gender identity and expression and will be in an environment that is welcoming.

“It made us proud to tour this play and see schools… have conversations which promote acceptance,” Carmichael wrote. “The need for (Crawford’s) writing is clearly demonstrated by the discomfort surrounding this production.”

According to Carmichael, as of April 28, the children’s theatre had performed the play for 22 schools in the Niagara and Hamilton regions, including a free show for students whose schools had cancelled their performance.