Early in February, The Epoch Times reported on the story of Josh Alexander, a 16-year-old student from St. Joseph’s Catholic High School in Renfrew, Ontario, who was arrested after trying to attend class while under an exclusion order issued by the principal. His problems began in 2022 when he organized a protest in support of female students who were uncomfortable with transgender biological males using the girls’ washroom. It was also alleged that he referred to transgender students by their birth names and cited Scripture to defend his positions about gender.
Several news organizations covered the story, some noting the irony of a Catholic student arrested for his attachment to Catholic teaching. On the other side of the issue, an interview with the mother of a St. Joseph’s transgender teen criticized Josh Alexander for his “negative transphobic views.” Supporters of transgender rights often cloak themselves in the rhetoric of “inclusion” but are frequently intolerant of their heteronormative peers.
Not all members of the LGBTQ community are of like mind on the transgender rights issue. Douglas Murray, a British author and political analyst who is openly gay, questions the insistence that society should alter almost all of its social and linguistic norms to accommodate a new generation of transsexuals. He believes that people who feel a genuine need to transition from one sex to another should not do so during childhood or adolescence.
The trans revolution seeks to exclude and subvert the interests of parents who want to educate their children according to a Christian paideia. Progressive educators have pushed hard to achieve favoured status for the transgender rights movement, and media outlets will persecute almost anyone who dares to dissent. People of faith are favourite targets. An example of this is the incident in January 2019 in Washington, D.C. when Nick Sandman, a Kentucky Catholic school boy, was captured on a 30-second video clip which gave the impression that he was defying an Omaha tribal elder. Although he was later exonerated, it took a multimillion dollar defamation settlement from CNN to do so.
James Kitchen, an attorney from the Canadian Liberty Coalition, is taking Josh Alexander’s case to the Ontario Human Rights Commission, arguing that he “cannot, due to his sincere religious beliefs, knowingly speak a falsehood, such as acknowledging the fiction that people can change from male to female.” It will be an uphill battle for Josh to recover his religious freedom in a liberal Canadian courtroom.
Many will pray for Josh, and miracles do happen! Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.