Who runs the schools?: LGBTQ youth activism and Ontario’s Bill 13

The Accepting Schools Act (Bill 13), which amends the Education Act of Ontario, Canada, passed in 2012 includes the directive that all publicly-funded schools, whether secular or Catholic, support students who wish to establish, name, and run gay-straight alliances (GSAs). This legislation was influenced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth activism and the events preceding Bill 13’s passage exemplify effective political mobilization by secondary school students in defiance of their schools. This article brings the voices of the youth activists, including one of its authors, together with news media and scholarly literature to reflect on the aims of this LGBTQ youth activism.