SO WE MUST HOPE THAT ACTUAL JUSTICE PREVAILS, AND THAT BARRY NEUFELD WINS THIS CASE.

the principle of inclusion for LGBT children, but “I have simply taken issue with one facet of the SOGI 123 learning resources, the teaching of the controversial gender-fluid theory as fact.”

This is an important freedomof-speech case. Section 13 (1) of the B.C. Human Rights Code states that a person must not (b) “discriminate against a person … because of the … gender identity or expression … of that person.” But Neufeld has not discriminated against a person; his criticisms are directed at a hypothesis being presented as settled, anodyne fact, its purposeful omission of well-documented caveats, and the politicized environment surrounding SOGI 123’s rushed implementation (the board of trustees was not consulted beforehand, for example, nor did SOGI follow the normal route of pilot project followed by assessment, nor were all CUPE members consulted regarding the complaint). He argues that on the contested terrain of children’s “best interests” in transgender education, his role is that of proxy for parents’ rights to deal with their children’s sensitive health issues as they see fit.

Neufeld’s opinions — which are not religion-based, it should be emphasized — will seem cogent and reasonable to many Canadians. They are rooted in respect for evidence-based knowledge, and deference to the School Board Act’s mandate to provide “non-sectarian” education to children. Neufeld believes that SOGI 123 represents a sectarian belief system, whose advocates seek normalization of the statistically rare phenomenon of irreversible gender dysphoria through an unproven concept — despite the assertions of transactivist militants, there is no scientific evidence to suggest that biology and gender are unlinked — that can cause psychological harm to children.

I spoke with Neufeld, who told me he is supported by many district parents and teachers too scared to go public. I spoke with one such teacher, who must remain anonymous for obvious reasons. He is indignant about the way most media and organizational representatives are treating Neufeld for his non-conforming views. He wrote me: “Regarding SOGI 123, there appears to be a great many people afflicted with doublethink. They use words like ‘inclusion’ to justify exclusion, and ‘diversity,’ to compel conformity, and they seem to imagine that being ‘safe’ equates to being shielded from offensive ideas or opinions. They are fighting against bullying while behaving as bullies ... If there is credible scientific evidence that Neufeld is wrong, then let us see it. Let us examine it on its merits.”

On its merits, Neufeld’s case seems solid. Unlike the school district, Neufeld’s speech is protected by the Charter. Ultimately, as an elected official, his fate should rest with the voters. And he has the right to express beliefs that may offend certain CUPE employees. However strong his legal case, however, one never knows what novel interpretations judges inclined toward social justice may “discover” in the Charter.

So we must hope that actual justice prevails, and that Barry Neufeld wins this case. If he doesn’t, I predict a surge toward home-schooling by parents who refuse to allow their children’s minds to be exploited as pedagogical guinea pigs.

And more power to them if they do.