A panel of three school board trustees has refused to overturn an Ontario activist student’s suspension from school.Josh Alexander was a Grade 11 student at St. Joseph’s High School in Renfrew, ON, who expressed during class debates and on social media, that there are only two genders, that students cannot switch between genders and that male students should not be permitted into girls’ washrooms.For this, he was suspended, issued a trespass notice and “excluded” for the entire remainder of the 2022-2023 school year by the Principal of St. Joseph’s, Derek Lennox. St. Joseph’s is a public Catholic school, part of the Renfrew County Catholic District School Board.Through lawyer and Liberty Coalition Canada Chief Litigator James Kitchen, Alexander appealed the school board’s decisions to suspend and exclude him from school for his Christian beliefs. The appeals should have been heard over half a year ago, but the school board unlawfully refused to accept Alexander’s appeals.On August 31, 2023, Justice Hooper of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled the appeals were valid and had to be heard. The appeals were heard— in secret — by a panel of three School Board trustees on November 15 and 17.The panel issued its decision on Monday and ruled against Alexander. The panel also ordered the decision itself be withheld from the public.Alexander’s lawyer James Kitchen, called the decision to withhold the reasons as “a shocking turn of events.”“The panel cited ‘the importance of privacy’ as somehow justifying such an outrageous violation of the open court principle, despite the fact no individuals were identified in the decision except Josh,” Kitchen said in an online update by Liberty Coalition Canada.“The panel’s decision has all the indicators it was written by a woke activist, such as reference to ideological buzzwords such as ‘deadname’ and phrases such as ‘using the bathroom of the gender to which they identify’. Perhaps most egregiously, the panel adopted the fallacy only religious beliefs quietly held inside a student’s head should be protected by the law.”Kitchen paraphrased and shared brief portions of the decision regardless.“According to the panel, religious students who believe in only two sexes, that people cannot change their sex and that biological boys must not enter the girls’ washroom are not permitted to speak out loud about those beliefs if doing so ‘disrespects’ a transgender student or “makes them feel unsafe,” he explained.“The panel goes so far as to effectively make a parody of itself by stating, ‘this Appeal is not about religious beliefs, freedom of expression or any beliefs in general,’ and by claiming Josh is not ‘being disciplined in any way because of his beliefs’. Considering the panel (unlawfully) ordered that Mr. Kitchen not even be allowed to provide the public with the panel’s decision, it would appear even the panel may be aware readers of its decision will struggle to believe this case is not about Josh Alexander’s religious beliefs.”Kitchen said the case demonstrates how Canada has become “truly Orwellian.”“A principal tells his students to deny reality and accept that boys are girls. Then, when a Christian student expresses his religious belief that, in fact, boys cannot become girls, the school excludes him, claiming the expression of such beliefs is ‘bullying’,” explained Kitchen.“Then, when the student challenges the exclusion, trustees of the school board rule that the exclusion was not in response to the student expressing his religious beliefs, but, just in case someone might conclude otherwise, the trustees then attempt to make the whole thing secret.”Alexander, Kitchen and Liberty Coalition Canada will review the decision and consider the available options regarding appeal. LCC encouraged supporters who want to see the panel’s decision appealed to donate to the Liberty Defense Fund and voice their support.
