Representations of Resistance: News Media and Youth Activists as Unexpected Allies

• In Event: 46.085 - Roundtable Session 15
  In Roundtable Session: 46.085-11 - The Social Justice Discourse and Social Justice Activists

Abstract

The Canadian news media have been instrumental in shedding light on clashes between Catholic canonical law and Canadian common law in relation to non-heterosexuals in Canadian Catholic schools. The authors highlight media accounts that show a progression of same-sex legal rights in Canada following the enactment of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982) and its use in challenging discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in Canadian schools. The accounts both reveal the extent of discrimination and illustrate examples of youth and community resistance in context. The authors conclude that without these media accounts, discussions among ordinary Canadians about the problem of homophobia in Catholic schools – the necessary groundwork for initiating change – may never take place.

Authors

• Catherine Burwell, University of Calgary

• Tonya D. Callaghan, University of Calgary