2 Ontario Teachers Allege They Were Fired for Not Supporting LGBT Celebrations, Launch Legal Challenge

Two Ontario teachers are challenging their dismissal with a human rights complaint against the school board, alleging they were fired for not supporting LGBT events.

Matt and Nicole Alexander were long-term employees of the Renfrew County District School Board (RCDSB) when they were suspended, and later fired, in 2023, according to the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF).

The couple says their troubles started in 2022 when their son, Josh, became vocal about gender identity ideology in his school.

Josh Alexander was in Grade 11 at St. Joseph’s Catholic High School operated by the Renfrew County Catholic District School Board (RCCDSB). He was suspended in 2022 for sharing his views that there are only two genders. The school also said that Josh organized a student walkout in protest of biological boys being allowed to use the girls’ washroom. RCCDSB alleged that Josh had been bullying students in the school. The suspension was later changed to an “exclusion,” which has the same effect but is considered non-disciplinary.

Following Josh’s suspension, Matt Alexander was suspended from his Grade 7 and 8 teaching positions in April 2023 over social media posts made about him. He did not have any public social media accounts at the time, JCCF said. The organization did not elaborate on the content of the social media posts.

Nicole Alexander was suspended a few weeks later, after she moved a pride poster taped to the front door of her kindergarten classroom in May 2023, JCCF said. The organization said that the poster was placed there without her consent and she moved it to a classroom cabinet.

She was then called to a meeting with the school principal where she was told she was suspended pending an investigation. The investigation lasted six months, JCCF said.

Both Matt and Nicole were fired on Oct. 26, 2023. JCCF says it’s because they refused to celebrate LGBTQ events.

“As teachers, the Alexanders had always created a welcoming environment for all students,” JCCF says. “On October 26, 2023, the Renfrew County District School Board terminated both Nicole and Matt Alexander for not celebrating and affirming LGBTQ issues.”

The two teachers attempted to file a grievance under a collective agreement, but the union refused to argue that the couple’s freedom of conscience and religion had been violated, JCCF said.

The Epoch Times attempted to contact the school board and the union but did not hear back by publication time.

However, a post on the union’s website, unrelated to the complaint, said the “erasure of 2SLGBTQ+ communities in jurisdictions across Canada through regressive policies and legislation is deeply concerning.”

It said that it was “proud” to engage in supporting the LGBT community and supported all elementary union locals in “doing the same.”

The union has about 83,000 members, from public elementary teachers and early childhood educators to professional support personnel.

Complaints

JCCF lawyer Darren Leung has filed two actions on behalf of the couple.

He has filed a human rights complaint against the RCDSB, alleging the family was discriminated against over their religious beliefs.

Leung has also filed a complaint with the Labour Relations Board against the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario for not supporting the couple “properly.”

He has noted that both Matt and Nicole Alexander have a clean disciplinary record.

“Our constitutional democracy is built on a culture of tolerance and mutual respect of diverse ideas, beliefs and points of view,” Leung said. “The law should strive to accommodate as many viewpoints as possible.”

He said that in the case of the Alexanders, government power was being used to “enforce only one viewpoint” and those who did not fully accept the viewpoint were being punished.

Matt Alexander said he had dedicated more than 20 years to his students and school.

“It seems to me, there is no room for Christians to be Christian in the education system,” he said.

He also said the couple had been “financially devastated” by the situation, but is determined not to back down.

Nicole Alexander said they sold the family home and their pensions were “decimated.”

“It put a black mark on us, effectively ending our careers in public education,” she said, adding they both needed to retrain for new careers.