A Canadian Catholic high school student was reportedly arrested Monday after he attempted to attend classes following his alleged suspension from the school for opposing transgenderism.
Josh Alexander, 16, is a junior at St. Joseph’s Catholic High School in Renfrew, Ontario. He was arrested and charged for attempting to attend classes at the school Monday, according to a Tweet from the student.
I have just been arrested and charged at my Catholic highschool for attending class after being excluded for indicating my intent to adhere to my religious beliefs. pic.twitter.com/vTkaSoTnFp
— Josh Alexander (@officialJosh_A) February 6, 2023
Alexander was initially suspended from school for a month in November 2022 after allegedly organizing a protest against male students using women’s restrooms, as well as stating in class that there are only two genders, according to a December 2022 report from The Epoch Times. (RELATED: Virginia Lawmakers Approve Bill To Ban Teachers From Hiding A Child’s Gender Transition From Parents).
“I don’t think it’s fair that they are growing up with parents who encourage this behavior,” Alexander told the outlet.
The school told Alexander he “may have violated the Safe Schools policy,” The Epoch Times reported. The Ontario Safe Schools Act aims to “increase respect and responsibility, to set standards for safe learning and safe teaching in schools.”
Alexander’s alleged suspension was lifted in January 2023, but he claimed he was “excluded” by the school principal, The Epoch Times reported Feb. 1. “Exclusion” is equivalent to suspension, but is viewed as non-disciplinary, according to the outlet. Alexander was reportedly informed in early February that he will be excluded for the rest of the school year.
St. Joseph’s Catholic High School informed him that his presence at the school would be “detrimental to the physical and mental well-being” of students struggling with gender dysphoria, the outlet reported, citing Alexander.
“Offence is obviously defined by the offended. I expressed my religious beliefs in class and it spiraled out of control,” Alexander told The Epoch Times. “Not everybody’s going to like that. That doesn’t make me a bully. It doesn’t mean I’m harassing anybody. They express their beliefs and I express mine. Mine obviously don’t fit the narrative.”
“Obviously, he doesn’t actually bully them as that term would be defined by … reasonable people. He’s not going to seek them out and call them names and make fun of them,” Alexander’s lawyer, James Kitchen, told the outlet. “But he does express his views about what these people say and about what they believe and about what they’re doing. And he expresses them online, and he expresses them in the class.”
Alexander, a self-described “born-again Christian,” also led students in a walk-out in support of the Canadian trucker convoy protests in 2022, according to the New York Post.
He plans to appeal his alleged suspension to the provincial human rights tribunal later in February, according to the outlet.
St. Joseph’s Catholic High School Principal Derek Lennox told The Epoch Times he is not able to comment on the matter. Lennox did not respond to the Daily Caller’s request for comment by the time of publication.