Student Activist Arrested in Calgary While Protesting Transgender Use of Girls’ Washroom

Josh Alexander, a grade-11 student at St. Joseph's High School in Renfew, Ont. Yan Parisien

A protest and counterprotest on the issue of transgender students using the girls’ washroom amassed some 80 people outside Western Canada High School in Calgary, Alta., on May 17.

“A fight broke out between several individuals of opposing views,” Calgary Police Service spokesperson Brittany Klassen told The Epoch Times via email. She said two people were taken into custody, but released without charge.

She did not give the names of the individuals arrested, but one of them was Josh Alexander, a 17-year-old from Renfrew, Ont., who organized the protest.

Alexander tweeted, “Today I was handcuffed and put in a paddy wagon for offering students bibles on a public sidewalk in Calgary. I was released and told if I returned I would be arrested and charged. I continued handing out bibles.”

Alexander put a callout for students nationally and internationally to stage walk-outs in their schools on May 17. The walkout was called, “I Stand With Josh Alexander.”

Alexander has been in conflict with his school, St. Joseph’s Catholic High School, since November last year for his stance against biological males using girls’ washrooms and because he has said he will continue to express his religious belief that God made only two genders.

Girls at his school, including Bridget Wacklawik with whom The Epoch Times spoke in December, expressed discomfort with sharing their washroom with biological males.

Alexander went to Calgary to support the walkout at Western Canada High School, co-organized by True Dominion Canada, which describes itself as a conservative social media company. Nathaniel Pawlowski, son of preacher and activist Artur Pawlowski, is an active member of the group.

The Calgary Board of Education (CBE) said students at Western Canada High School who participated in the walk-out will be marked as having an “unexcused absence” for the day. “Today’s protests are not CBE events and are not supported by CBE,” the board told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement.

“Ensuring students feel safe and secure at school requires that we attend to the availability of inclusive washrooms and change rooms. CBE students may access washrooms and change rooms that are congruent with their gender identity,” the board said. “Any personal or safety concerns about students using a group washroom or change room, including sexual and gender diverse students, would be discussed and dealt with on a case by case basis at the school.”

In a video of Alexander’s arrest posted on social media, Alexander is seen trying to get through a crowd of counter-protesters to approach the school. The counter-protesters pushed him away.

A flyer for the counter-protest called on people to “show up to shut down hate.”

Klassen said no further altercations happened after that incident and that officers remained on site to support public safety.

“The Calgary Police Service recognizes the Charter rights of everyone to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. The overall objective is to work with all parties to ensure public and officer safety and to maintain orderly conduct and peace,” Klassen said. “We police behaviour, not beliefs.”