Grade 11 St. Joseph’s Catholic High School student Josh Alexander initiated a human rights complaint against his school board, alleging discrimination in services based on his Roman Catholic creed..“The commission’s own policy is clear the school board is required to accommodate the applicant in a way that integrates rather than segregates,” said Liberty Coalition Canada (LCC) chief counsel James Kitchen in a court filing..Alexander — who served a long suspension for opposing gender ideology — was barred from school in January..READ MORE: Catholic student against transgenders using girls washrooms banned from school again.He led a student walkout and protest in November over biological males entering female washrooms..LCC said he was suspended “because he has expressed his belief, during class debates and on social media, there are only two genders, students cannot switch between genders, and male students should not be permitted into the girls’ bathroom.”.Alexander was arrested for attending St. Joseph’s while barred from classes in February..READ MORE: Catholic student opposed to biological males in women’s washrooms arrested for attending school.“I have just been arrested and charged at my Catholic high school for attending class after being excluded for indicating my intent to adhere to my religious beliefs,” he said..LCC said the timing of the suspension “suggests retaliation for Josh organizing a student walk-out regarding the refusal of St. Joseph’s principal, Derek Lennox, to address the concerns of a female student regarding male students accessing the girls’ washrooms.”.The filing went on to say Alexander holds many sincere beliefs informed by the Bible about gender, sexuality, and modesty. It said he believes he's called by God to proclaim the truth, which includes telling those around him about his design for gender and opposing the Renfrew County Catholic District School Board (RCCDSB) policy to allow biological males into women’s washrooms..The Ontario Human Rights Commission’s (OHRC) findings in its policy on preventing discrimination based on creed align with his experiences at the school..Kitchen said his client “suffered denigration because he follows beliefs and ways of life that differ from what is considered ‘normal’ or ‘acceptable.’” He added the RCCDSB went well beyond criticizing Alexander by distorting his beliefs and stereotyping, attempting to segregate, and severely punishing him.. Josh AlexanderJosh Alexander .Since he was banned until the end of the school year, the ruling said the RCCDSB was being exclusive to him. His creed differs from mainstream ways of life and was stigmatized and considered unworthy..One of his teacher said he was a misogynist, and another encouraged his peers to shout him down. The filing said couching his beliefs in the language of hate and predation covers the discrimination in the OHRC’s creed policy..The RCCDSB ascribed negative characteristics to Alexander based on his religious beliefs, assuming he has harmed or will harm other students based on him expressing them. However, his religious beliefs do not involve hating or harming anyone..Despite numerous attempts by Kitchen to bring the discrimination to the school board’s attention, the filing said it failed to accommodate him. It accused it of ignoring the concerns of discrimination raised..The school board did not develop inclusivity policies aimed at handling conflicts about different creeds in constructive ways. Rather than handling creed diversity in a productive manner, it said the current policies were designed to cast him as the other..Given the school is Catholic and is expected to attract some Bible-believing students, the filing said its lack of preparedness to deal with a situation like this egregious..It acknowledged tolerating the applicant’s expression of his religious beliefs by declining to discriminate him will not result in anyone’s sexual orientation or gender identity being affected. For example, declining to penalize him for expressing his opposition to the washroom policy in no way requires or involves changing it into what he believes it ought to be..The remedies he seeks are a declaration the RCCDSB’s behaviour constitutes unlawful discrimination, a declaration it engaged in reprisal, an order to remove any discipline assigned to him, developing and implementing policies which protect the rights of minority religious beliefs, $40,000 in monetary damages, and special damages for losing out on his education..Kitchen concluded by saying an appropriate accommodation is “one that allows for his meaningful participation in his classes and school life.”.“Rather than designing its policies to include and tolerate everyone, as distinct from demanding a monolith of belief, the school board determined to simply exclude a religious minority student like the applicant under the guise of some undisclosed and unqualified ‘harm,’” he said..“This is unlawful discrimination.” .RCCDSB communications officer Kylie Gibson said it could not speak to the particular case because of confidentiality reasons, referring to a letter from Director of Education Mark Searson..“The Renfrew County Catholic District School Board deeply respects religious freedoms,” said Searson..“This is fundamental to our values as a Catholic school board.” .As a guiding principle, Searson said the RCCDSB's top priority is student safety and well-being. He admitted it expects values will be expressed respectfully and in a way which is not harmful to people..The director of education said while all students are entitled and encouraged to share their beliefs at the board's schools, they cannot be at the expense of others. He said it does not want anyone to feel excluded or marginalized.
