Remember Josh Alexander, who was barred from his Renfrew Catholic high school for insisting that God created people as male and female and refusing to buy into the gender identity craze?

To recap the past controversy, Alexander participated in a discussion of the topic of gender identity in his math class in the fall of 2022. 

In his words, the discussion was about “male students using female washrooms, gender dysphoria and male breastfeeding. Everyone was sharing their opinions on it, any student who wanted to was participating, including the teacher. I said there were only two genders, and you were born either a male or a female, and that got me into trouble. And then I said that gender doesn’t trump biology.”

He then helped organize a walk out at the school to protest the access of biological males to female washrooms, which landed him a suspension from school in December. The Chair of the board responded to ratepayers who were troubled by the suspension with the contention that the board has to uphold the protections of the Ontario Human Rights code around gender identity and gender expression.

When Josh tried returning to school on Jan. 9, he received a trespass notice from the principal. Josh’s lawyer entered into negotiations with the school board’s legal counsel to get the “notice of exclusion” removed so Josh could return to school.

Josh was told he could return if he agreed to two conditions, that he would refrain from "dead naming" trans students and would not attend two classes the trans students were in. Rebel News reports that Josh's lawyer, James Kitchen from Liberty Coalition Canada, at the time, called the dead naming condition "compelled speech"; and the banning of Josh from his afternoon classes "manifestations of religious discrimination.”  

Negotiations regarding the exclusion between lawyers for the two sides hit a wall when Josh refused to promise that he would not speak about his views about sexuality. On Jan 27 this exclusion was extended to the end of the new term.

Josh tried to go back to school once again on Feb. 6, 2023 but someone called the police, who arrived and arrested and charged Josh with trespassing.

To add insult to injury, Josh was told that he did not have legal standing as a dependent minor to appeal his expulsion to the board, a claim that his lawyers fought by providing the board with affidavits from his parents as to his legal independence.

As September began Josh found himself un-enrolled from the school based on his non-attendance during the prior term.

A sliver of light appeared at the end of August when the teen won a court battle that allows him to appeal his expulsion from St. Joseph’s Catholic High School in Renfrew, Ont.

“We won!” Josh tweeted on Sept 2, “The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has just ruled in our favor. My high school will be forced to hear my appeals regarding, multiple suspensions, exclusions, and the trespassing notice.”

The judge accepted that Josh had withdrawn from parental control and as such, has proper standing to appeal to the school board.

Asked about his relationship with his parents now that he has withdrawn from parental control, Josh said “They support me the entire way, but they recognize that I’m a young man. I made the decision to state my views on my own and the consequences are my own. They believe the same as I do that this is my fight to fight” (“Catholic board wants to ostracize Christian teen. He wants to go to class”, Michael Higgins, National Post, Sept. 6, 2023).

He tweeted again later that day saying “The world is watching @RCCDSB.  Will you continue to punish students for exercising their religious freedoms and practicing chivalry?”

James Kitchen announced this week that Josh will be pursuing multiple appeals with the board, and plans to meet with them today, Sept. 7, according to Michael Higgins.

PAFE wishes Josh the best of luck persuading the board of his right to speak out in favour of the traditional view of the two sexes and will be eagerly following this story!