A Canadian teenager who faced suspension from his Catholic high school for opposing transgender ideology is now involved in a human rights complaint alleging religious discrimination.
Attorney James Kitchen with Liberty Coalition Canada filed the application to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal earlier this month on behalf of his client Josh Alexander, a 17-year-old junior at St. Joseph’s High School in Renfrew, Ontario.
Alexander was initially suspended from school and issued a trespass notice in November.
According to the complaint, Alexander organized a student walkout at the public Catholic high school to protest against biological males using girls’ bathrooms.
In a math class, he reportedly argued that God created two unchangeable genders.
The complaint states that students called him names, such as “misogynist,” “racist,” and “homophobic transphobe,” while the teacher allegedly indicated approval of the students’ name-calling.
The school ultimately suspended Alexander, claiming that his continued attendance would be detrimental to the physical and mental well-being of transgender students.
Although his suspension was technically lifted in January, the Renfrew County Catholic District School Board has effectively continued his suspension by excluding him for the remainder of the school year.
Principal Derek Lennox would allow Alexander to return to school only if the teenager stopped using transgender students’ “dead names” and avoided attending classes with two transgender students.
When Alexander tried to return to school on February 6, he was arrested for allegedly violating the exclusion order.
The school board has declined to hear Alexander’s appeal regarding the suspension, despite being provided affidavit evidence to the contrary.
Kitchen has also filed an application at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to compel the school board to hear his client’s appeal.
In a statement provided to Fox News Digital, Liberty Coalition Canada claimed that expelling Alexander from school for expressing his Christian beliefs regarding sexuality and gender constituted unlawful religious discrimination.
The coalition is seeking a declaration from the Human Rights Tribunal that the School Board discriminated against Alexander based on his Christian beliefs.
The complaint highlights that Alexander identifies as a Christian and has protested transgender ideology because of his faith.
It states that Alexander believes he would be committing a sin if he disregarded the Lord’s calling and remained silent about his beliefs.
Kitchen has argued that freedom of religion and freedom of expression are in steep decline in Canada, with religious liberty eroding more rapidly.
He believes many Canadians do not comprehend the severity of the threat their government poses to religious freedom, which he claims has been “essentially dead” for about 10 to 15 years.