Dear Editor:
Harmel Guram (Who's being "malicious" about Policy 5.45?, Burnaby NOW online) accuses supporters of Parents' Voice of being homophobic and, in supporting this claim, makes statements that are theophobic.
Theophobia is the hatred by some of God, faith, religion and the church. Theophobic slurs have been used to justify denial of religious freedom based on the assumption that individuals with religious beliefs concerning marriage, the family and human sexuality discriminate against those with a different belief on these matters.
These assumptions have resulted in individual supporters of Parents' Voice being publicly slandered on the pages of the Burnaby Now. Secular public schools must accommodate moral and religious diversity within the school community.
When school district policies adopt the beliefs of one part of the school community as normative to the exclusion of others, the public school system is no longer secular - it is belief-based.
Suzana Kovacic, Burnaby
