This story contains disturbing language.
A prominent voice among Muslims opposing gender ideology in schools says she’s receiving abusive messages from progressives online – but won’t be silenced.
“You cannot imagine the amount of threats, insults I am getting just because I am saying I want my children to be educated without gender ideology,” said Bahira Abdulsalam, an educator and Toronto mother.
“They are trying to silence me, and they are trying to scare me.”
Abdulsalam currently sits on the Toronto District School Board’s Parent Involvement Advisory Committee. She also ran for mayor in the 2023 mayoral by-election.
Abdulsalam provided True North with several examples of hateful messages she has received in response to her opposition to gender ideology and drag shows for kids. Many include xenophobic comments, telling her to go back to the country she emigrated from.
“Go back to your own country you hateful bigot. YOU ARE NOT WANTED IN CANADA LEAVE NOW.”
“Take your fundamentalist religious extremism and MOVE BACK TO THE THEOCRACY YOU CAME FROM.”
“Move you bigot to some authoritarian backwater, let you raise your kids to be bigots like you want to. What are house prices in Tehran these days. Gladly swap you for someone actually wants freedoms.”
“And, the more you go off, the more I think you need to be kicked out of our country and back to your own. Try your freedom of speech over there and see how long it lasts.”
Abdulsalam has also received messages targeting her Islamic faith and her decision to wear the Hijab.
“How about keeping your medieval religious wear from our schools. It must scare modern kids to see this & learn that in some religions, men require the women to dress this way because they cannot be trusted to not rape them.”
“Keep the hijab out of schools.”
“Keep organized religion away from public schools! Religious extremists are the most groomed of anyone in society.”
“KEEP THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY OUT OF OUR SCHOOLS, esp the ones who likes to marry UNDERAGE GIRLS and get them pregnant. Or the Muslim men who likes to f*** little boys just for fun. Religion of peace yet beheads people for the littlest reason. F*** you bahira and F*** YOUR ALLAH.”
Other users have taken it a step further by telling Abdulsalam, who is also an engineer, that they’ve filed a complaint with the Professional Engineers Ontario licensing body.
However, Abdulsalam says she won’t be bullied or silenced by the woke left.
“Let’s say that Professional Engineers Ontario decided to take away my license, is this going to make me stop defending my child or other people’s children? No.”
“I am not worried about them cancelling me,” she added.
Abdulsalam also said that receiving hateful messages “makes me feel more determined to continue” advocating against gender ideology.
She believes the activists pushing for gender ideology in schools are part of “a very fringe minority,” and that they feel threatened when people like her challenge their narrative.
“I am a single mother. I have lots of things to care about. All (I am doing) is I’m speaking the truth,” said Abdulsalam. “When people say the truth, it becomes so powerful. This is my weapon that is threatening them.”
The online abuse received by Abdulsalam is not the only example of Canadian Muslims being targeted by progressives for opposing gender ideology.
During the 2022-2023 school year, two Canadian teachers were caught on tape berating Muslim students for skipping LGBTQ pride activities, including in Windsor, Ontario – as exclusively reported on by True North.
Canadian Muslims are planning a “Million Person March” in September to protest gender ideology and Pride activities in schools. Organizer Kamel El-Cheikh is hoping to bring people of all faiths together.
Abdulsalam says she looks forward to seeing Canadians from coast to coast protest against gender ideology at the march on Sept. 20.
