GUELPH— Elizabeth Quintanar tightly grips a rosary and recites hail Marys in a crowd of protesters in front of Education Minister and Guelph MPP Liz Sandals' office.

The rosary has been known to bring on miracles, she said at the protest on Wednesday morning. "We need a miracle because there are many forces that want to destroy our children, our families and our relationship with God."

The new health and physical education curriculum the province of Ontario introduced earlier this year is one of these forces that Quintanar is speaking of. On Wednesday, between 11 a.m. and noon, approximately 50 people, including families with young children, gathered in front of Sandals' constituency office on Woolwich Street and held up signs for drivers passing by.

The protester's signs displayed various slogans including "our children, our choice," and "respect parental rights." The biggest issues about the curriculum centre on the teachings around sexual health.

Education Minister and Guelph MPP Liz Sandals was in Toronto, on Wednesday, in talks with teachers' unions, looking to reach an agreement before the school year begins next week.

Wednesday's gathering was organized by Jakki Jeffs, president of the not-for-profit group, Guelph and AreaRight to Life. Guelph's was just one of the many such protests that took place across the province on Wednesday. The protests were organized by the Campaign Life Coalition, which opposes changes – the first in 17 years – to the sex-ed curriculum.

Jeffs said the new curriculum is indoctrinating children, not educating them.

"In another era in the history of the world, another government tried to indoctrinate children," she said, comparing the current provincial administration to Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party. "Childrens' minds are malleable and the way you raise children is the way they're going to be as adults."

In 1948, the universal declaration of human rights ensured parents have prior rights to raise their children with their own understanding of morality and religious freedoms, she said, referring to article 26 of that document.

"Parents have do have a right to raise their children as and how they wish in that area."

In Grade 1, teachers will introduce children to the proper names of body parts, including the penis, testicles, vagina and vulva.

This type of lesson is a desensitization of our little ones, Jeffs said. It should be up to the parents to decide when their children learn this realm of anatomy.

In Grade 3, children will be introduced to different types of family structures, including same-sex marriages.

Andrew Vince was at the protest with his son Tristan, who will be going into Grade 6 next week. He said he was trying to raise his children in keeping with traditional Catholic values. This includes the belief that a marriage needs to be between a man and a woman, not a man and a man, or a woman and a woman.

Maria Kot, a mother of five, was protesting with some of her children at her side. She said there were a number of issues with the new curriculum that concerned her. One issue has to do with same-sex marriage. She said children shouldn't be taught about same-sex marriage in elementary school at all.

"Parents have the right to pass down what we believe," she said, adding the new curriculum will take this right away.

Stella Mott, 52, is a mother of four and sits on the board of directors with the Right to Life group. Standing on the curb she held up a sign that said "our children, our morality."

She said she has a master's degree in science and decided to home-school her children. She said the new curriculum will likely push children to engage in sexual activities earlier in life, and there may be psychological issues that come along with that.

It's not only a moral issue for me, she said, but it's a factual issue as well. Mott said the curriculum teaches children in Grade 6 that masturbation is common and not harmful. She said the curriculum fails to mention that, in some cases, excessive masturbation can be linked to erectile dysfunction. This is one of several examples she highlighted as factually inaccurate.

Jeffs said she's been trying to meet with Sandals since February, but has not been successful.

On Wednesday, Jenny Waterston, a spokesperson from Sandals' office, said the invitations from Jeffs were for Sandals to take part in a debate, not a discussion. Waterston said Sandals declined to take part in the debate, but offered to meet Jeffs to discuss the issue. Waterston said she didn't receive a response to that invitation.