LIVERPOOL, England (OSV News) — A Catholic teacher in England could be banned from the classroom for life after refusing to teach “extreme” gender ideology to students.
The Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA), which has the power to remove teachers from the profession, is examining a complaint made against Glawdys Leger, 43, by the Aquinas Church of England Education Trust, her former employer.
The five-day hearing in Coventry, which ran until Oct. 13, was before a “fitness to practice” panel, which considered the accusation that Leger represented a safeguarding risk to the “emotional well-being of children.”
Leger, primarily a modern languages teacher, was fired for “gross misconduct” in May 2022 from Bishop Justus Church of England School in Bromley, near London, when she refused to teach gender ideology to children aged between 12 and 14 years during religious education classes, and instead imparted her own Christian beliefs.
The Aquinas Trust then referred Leger to the TRA, complaining, according to the Christian Legal Center (CLC), which is representing her, that she upset a student “by sharing her views on LBGTQ+ and she went on to share many more in our investigation and subsequent hearings, such that we were not certain whether she would continue to share those views with young people.”
In a statement sent Oct. 9 to OSV News, the CLC said Leger told students that humans are born male and female and that same-sex sexual practices were sinful. She also refused to use teaching materials designed to encourage young people to become politically active in advancing rights for same-sex attracted and transsexual people.
A student later said that Leger had said, “God will love you if you are not LGBTQ+,” an accusation that she denies, according to the CLC.
Ahead of the hearing, Leger said: “The impact of what has happened to me has taken a great toll on me. The thought of me losing my career for expressing my Christian beliefs in response to questions from students is heartbreaking.”
“I was treated like a criminal and as though I was a danger for expressing my Christian beliefs,” she said in the press release from the CLC.
“I have great compassion for LGBT people, especially for those suffering from gender confusion,” she continued. “I cannot, however, in good conscience teach or say things I believe are contrary to my faith, for example saying that same-sex sexual relationships are good and/or affirming people in their gender confusion.”
“I am certain that I have not shown, and never would show, any hatred or lack of love towards LGBT people,” she said. “True compassion and love is to be able to speak the truth to people irrespective of their sexuality. I would never discriminate against anyone, but the school was compelling teachers to promote, teach and celebrate these issues, which I could not do.”
She added: “This is unacceptable in a truly democratic and ‘tolerant’ society, and I am determined to defend myself and fight for justice.”
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the CLC, said Leger “was hounded out of the job she loved because she wanted children to understand in a Religious Education lesson in a Christian school that Christian teaching does not align with LGBTQI ideology.”
The trust said in a statement to the media that “the school teaches in line with statutory requirements to promote British values and follows relevant guidance outlined by the Department for Education.”
Gender ideology has become an explosive issue in the United Kingdom, with high profile feminists such as the author J.K. Rowling vehemently opposing the extension of rights to transsexuals who want to use women’s private spaces, such as lavatories, hospital wards and changing rooms, and to compete as women in sports contests.
With a general election looming in 2024, Rishi Sunak, the British Prime Minister, promised to halt the advance of gender ideology, telling delegates at the annual Conservative Party Conference in Manchester that he would prohibit men who identified as women to be treated on women-only hospital wards.
His remarks on gender drew the loudest applause in a speech in which he set out forthcoming policies.
Sunak said: “We shouldn’t get bullied into believing that people can be any sex they want to be. They can’t — a man is a man and a woman is a woman. That’s just common sense,” he said.
“It shouldn’t be controversial for parents to know what their children are being taught in school about relationships. Patients should know when hospitals are talking about men or women,” the prime minister emphasized.
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