Ontario’s Divisional Court has heard arguments in a judicial review of the case of a teen suspended from his Catholic high school over his stance on gender issues.
Josh Alexander was a Grade 11 student when he was suspended from St. Joseph’s Catholic High School in Renfrew, Ont., in 2022, after expressing his view that there are only two genders. The school is part of the Renfrew County Catholic District School Board (RCCDSB).
Alexander also organized a student walkout to protest biological boys being permitted to use the girls’ washroom. He was subsequently accused of bullying other students and suspended in November 2022.
The school later changed Alexander’s suspension to an “exclusion” from school, which has the same effect but is considered non-disciplinary. It was a decision that extended into the 2023-24 school year, which would have been his senior year.
Legal Arguments
The hearing on Nov. 13 was presided over by Justices James A. Ramsay, Shaun O’Brien, and Janet Leiper.
Kitchen argued the school principal had knowledge of Alexander’s beliefs and the remarks he had made weeks before the decision to suspend and then exclude him from school. He added that such beliefs should not be surprising to Catholic officials.
Leiper asked Kitchen if there was any indication other students felt unsafe because of Alexander’s comments or behaviour. Leiper said when a student is called by a name or gender with which they do not identify, the action can be seen by them as aggressive.
Kitchen replied that the judges should consider an objective definition of “safety” and that it is important to balance the rights of all students.
Asked about the types of compromises Alexander had offered to make, Kitchen said his client was not seeking out or targeting transgender students but only asked to be allowed to state his views during class debates about gender issues.
Kitchen told the court that school officials failed to recognize that Alexander’s beliefs should also be protected. He asked the court to acknowledge the discrimination.
When questioned about whether the issue was moot because Alexander is now older than 18, Kitchen said his client wanted his record cleared. He also said the court decision could be used as a reference for other similar cases.
School board lawyer Jennifer Birrell told the court the main issue was Alexander’s behaviour, not his beliefs.
She cited several examples of Alexander’s behaviour that concerned the school board. She said Alexander reportedly sought out a student to ask if that student is a boy, a girl, or a cat.
She said another student heard Alexander “deadname” a transgender student, which is a term used when an individual’s birth name is used rather than their name chosen post-gender transition.
Birrell said Alexander had been excluded from classes by the principal but disobeyed the exclusion by attending afternoon classes that he shared with transgender students. Failure of students to adhere to the principal’s instructions would result in “mayhem,” she said.
Alexander was seen as a safety risk to the school, Birrell said, noting Alexander had made a video of himself shooting at a target and using a song about vigilante justice. She said he confirmed he was aware of the lyrics to the song.
In an interview following the court proceedings, Kitchen told The Epoch Times the school board’s strategy in the case was to paint Alexander as a “terrible person” rather than focus on the issue of religious discrimination.
The Epoch Times reached out to the school board for comments after the hearing. The board declined, saying it cannot comment while the matter is before the courts.
Birrell told the court that Alexander is entitled to his beliefs and may be sincere in them, but they could not be used to justify his behaviour and the board had to balance the rights of all students.
The court allowed Kitchen to respond to Birrell’s remarks.
Kitchen said the school board had not consistently prioritized safety concerns, overlooking incidents in which his client had been bullied and called names by other students. In one case, a student reportedly considered bringing a weapon to school to use against Alexander.
