The Halton District School Board (HDSB) has advised students not to show up to school wearing an Oakville, ON, fake boobs teacher costume. .“Folks at @HaltonDSB getting worried that someone might have fun on Halloween,” said Quillette associate editor Jonathan Kay in a Friday tweet..“Here's today's HDSB mass mail-out about costumes tied to (ahem!) 'current socially trending incidents.'".Oakville Trafalgar High School — which belongs to the HDSB — said Sept. 18 it was standing behind a biological male teacher who transitioned to identify as a female wearing large prosthetic breasts under revealing clothes. .READ MORE: Keeping abreast of Ontario teacher's transitioning from male to female.The manufacturing technology teacher began identifying as a woman last year and now goes by the name Kayla Lemieux. .HDSB chair Margo Shuttleworth said it will protect the gender expression rights of employees, adding it is "the stance the school board is taking and they are standing behind the teacher.". Kayla LemieuxKayla Lemieux .The memo said if students choose to dress up in Halloween costumes, they should “ensure that they are contributing to the positive and pro-social climate that our school is cultivating around recognizing Halloween.” .“Costumes that are intended to, or have the impact of, inciting fear and anxiety for others are not acceptable costumes and special sensitivity needs to be exercised around current socially trending incidents, such as people dressed up as characters from popular media and approaching youth to frighten them at random,” said the memo. .As Halloween approaches, it said families need to be mindful the holiday is a regular school day, and students will be participating in curriculum activities. It added students and staff are welcome to wear Halloween costumes, orange and black attire, spiritwear, or regular school clothes. . Kayla LemieuxKayla Lemieux .The memo went on to say costumes mimicking traditional attire from racial, gender, or religious groups is “inappropriate and unacceptable for Halloween at our school.” It said pretending to be a member of a racial group for fun is cultural appropriation. .A large crowd gathered outside Oakville Trafalgar on Sept. 23 to protest the the HDSB’s decision to stand behind Lemieux. .READ MORE: Hundreds protest Oakville teacher with gigantic breasts, Bernier to hold demo against 'pervert'.The crowd gathered as classes were let out, with a number of students joining the protest..Police units were called for crowd and traffic control and to secure the area. Officers with surveillance equipment were spotted on the school’s roof.
