All public schools in Ottawa are flying the Pride flag for the month of June. I’d ask why, but anyone who does so is labeled as homophobic, transphobic and accused of making people feel unsafe.

Being neither of those things, I won’t ask.

I do note though that this is the only flag Ottawa schools fly other than the Canadian flag. And while June is Pride Month, it is also Portuguese heritage month and Filipino heritage month, to name the two I know without having to look anything up. Those flags aren’t being flown.

I’d ask why the special treatment, but people who raise the question are labeled as bigots. So I won’t ask. I’d suggest that the school board examine why this group warrants special treatment, but from news reports I have the impression that the subject is not open for honest discussion.

Which saddens me. What have we become that it is no longer permissible to respectfully ask questions, to explore different ideas, to hold and express a different viewpoint? Is such inflexibility good for society?

If your ideas are right, then examination and debate should widen and deepen your appreciation of them. Shutting down discussion indicates to me that you don’t want to face scrutiny because you know your position has a foundation build on sand.

Discussion around gender identity in Canada, it seems to me, has a lot of similarities with discussion of religion in Saudi Arabia. Anyone who doesn’t endorse the prevailing attitude is canceled.

Admittedly, while the Saudi version is a bit more extreme (those leaving Islam are subject to the death penalty), the attitude feels the same. Honest questions and discussion are choked off. It is as if the proponents of various gender ideologies are so uncertain of themselves that they can’t allow discussion for fear they might be convinced of the validity of their opponent’s their position.

That couldn’t be it, could it?

Meanwhile, I won’t ask why they are flying the Pride flag at Ottawa schools. I think I have just figured it out.