High school senior Josh Alexander, 17, won’t graduate this year. The Ontario student was suspended after protesting transgender bathrooms in St. Joseph’s Catholic High School and hasn’t attended class since February—not since police escorted him out of the building for trespassing.
The teen was on Tucker Carlson a few weeks back and has made the rounds to rally public support, accusing Renfrew County Catholic District School Board, principal Derek Lennox, and two teachers of religious discrimination.
Alexander has teamed up with Liberty Coalition Canada (LCC) and recently launched a Human Rights Tribunal complaint citing said charge, though that could take time to get off the ground.
They’ve also been awaiting a court decision that could reverse his suspension, but that was just shelved until June.
Despite delays—he won’t receive his diploma this year—Alexander remains stoic. “It’s obviously a bit of a blow,” he told The Epoch Times. “But at the same time, I think we’ve been fairly successful in getting the message out there and inspiring other youth to stand up for what they believe in.”
It was Alexander’s own standing up that drew the ire of St. Joseph’s principal, Lennox, when the teen organized the student walkout on Nov. 25, in protest of the school’s bathroom policy. That discord was punctuated by previous class discussions, in which he argued there were only two genders.
“The topic came up in class one time, and I stated my opinion on it. And I quoted some scripture to back it,” he said. “Students have the right to identify as they wish, but that doesn’t change their biology or the reality that they are, in fact, still the gender that they were born in. That was considered quite controversial and became a heated topic.”
Accused of “bullying” classmates, he insists the discussion was “fairly respectful until one class where there was shouting.” He claims he was called a “misogynist,” a “racist,” and a “homophobic transphobe,” and that teachers encouraged, and even joined in, ridiculing and parading him.
By Michael Wing
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