Rosa Brooks - Triangle Program Student
Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke asked media to shut off their cameras before he broke down during his speech on gay rights and anti-bullying, in front of hundreds of parents, educators and students. Burke on Monday helped launch a new website MyGSA.ca — the first national resource dedicated to helping lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and questioning (LGBTQ) youth.. Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke asked media to shut off their cameras before he broke down during his speech on gay rights and anti-bullying, in front of hundreds of parents, educators and students.
Burke on Monday helped launch a new website , MyGSA.ca — the first national resource dedicated to helping lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and questioning (LGBTQ) youth.
Burke’s son Brendan was 21 when he was killed in a car crash last February — three months after the father-son pair made headlines when it was revealed Brendan was gay.
“We have to get to a point where you can go to school free of fear,” Burke said at the launch at Sutton Place Hotel.
The website was created to protect the human rights of LGBTQ Canadians affected by bullying. It contains resources for youth, including questions and answers about human rights legislation and how to start a gay-straight alliance at schools.
While Burke said he didn’t recall his son being picked on — possibly because of his 6foot stature — he witnessed an incident in high school that angered him.
“I remember the one bullying incident I witnessed in high school, a disabled young man was picking up his books off the floor and someone kicked him as hard as they could,” he said.
Rosa Brooks, an 18-year-old who is enrolled in the Triangle Program, one of three LGBTQ classrooms run by 
the Toronto District School Board at the Oasis Alternative Secondary School, said the program allowed her to feel safe when she came to school.
“I grew up with two moms, so not only did I battle homophobia as a child, it was harder for me to come out,” she said.
“I really hope that several years down the road, we won’t need a program like Triangle and that we will be accepted wherever we go.”
Article was published by 24 – Toronto , May 18th, 2010
Hi
I am not sure who runs this page or reads these emails but I wanted to thank the triangle program – not just for being what it is and for being part of this process but for help I received from someone in admin of this program years ago.
My daughter was in grade six in public school here in Newmarket and came home horrified by homophobic comments being made on the bus. The principle of the school, Jan Wolfe felt that there was no need to bring in educators on gay rights, language etc. I fought for three months to have this edcuation brought to my daughter’s school and somone from the Triangle admin was very helpful to me at that time.
Though everyone in my family is straight we are human rights activists – when my daughter reached high school and of course encountered the same issues we discovered her school HAD NO GSA though apparently they were supposed to under board rules or some such. My daughter basically single handedly ran the GSA and NHS for several years and just for running this club she was taunted, teased, called all sorts of names, had her posters torn down……….. luckily she didn’t care but it shows the DESPARATE NEED for PUSHING this issue in schools.
Thanks for all you do
Karen Kalpin DSW
Autism Consultant/Therapist Newmarket On
My daughter went to the Triangle program 10 years ago. Back then there were only 20 students and some very dedicated teachers. My daughter, Erin, was beaten up at our local High School in Scarborough. Some friends knew about MCCT and the Triangle program and encouraged us to check it out. As a single mom I was concerned about my 15 year old traveling almost two hours from home to school and 2 hours home again every day. She loved the Triangle program and her teachers and the students and she did the travelling in all sorts of weather. We were able to turn the negative attitude of some bullies and the school into a very positive one. Not only did Erin have a safe place to go to school but we also found our new church home.