An Edmonton teacher has been caught on tape berating Muslim students for not doing enough to support Pride, many aspects of which go against their cultural and religious beliefs.
The audio quickly went viral, and while the Londonderry School faculty member’s identity was not made public, her voice was quickly confirmed by members of the Edmonton School District, who have since released an apology to students and parents.
“You are out to lunch if you think it’s acceptable to not show up because you think there’s Pride activities going on at school,” the teacher said, pointing out that non-Muslims had shown “respect” for their beliefs by taking part in Ramadan festivities.
“It goes two ways!” she says. “If you want to be respected for who you are, if you don’t want to suffer prejudice for your religion, your colour of skin, your whatever, then you better give it back to people who are different than you.”
She went on explain that not all countries were like Canada, citing Uganda in particular, where the law was recently changed to permit punishment of life in prison for simply being homosexual.
“If you believe that kind of thing, you don’t belong here,” the teacher stated. “That is not what Canada believes; we believe in freedom; we believe people can marry whoever they want. That is in law, and if you don’t think that should be the law, then you can’t be Canadian. You don’t belong here, and I mean it.”