When a Christian teaching assistant raised concerns over her school s plans to teach pupils LGBT lessons, it ultimately led to her dismissal. She now seeks damages at an employment tribunal, where the hearings are already under way.

LGBT ideology appears to be pushing on in the UK, especially in schools where its tenets are already being taught. When an assistant at Farmor s School in Fairford, Gloucestershire, decided to voice her concerns over the indoctrination, it ultimately led to her dismissal.

Christian teaching assistant Kristie Higgs worked at the school for seven years before being fired over two Facebook posts. Her social media entries didn t mention her employer and were shared under her maiden name to around one hundred of her friends.

Ms Higgs wrote her first post in October 2018. She shared her concerns over a UK government consultation into making Relationships and Sex Education mandatory in primary schools, and described the proposal as „brainwashing our children”. She warned that during these lessons, children would be taught that same-sex marriage is exactly the same as traditional marriage, and that gender is a matter of choice, not biology. However, all these ideas conflict with Christian values Higgs believes in.

In the second post, Ms Higgs shared a link to an article about schools using children s books to teach pupils about transgender ideology, which she acknowledged with sadness.

The first anonymous complaint to the school – accusing Ms Higgs of homophobic and prejudiced views against the LGBT community – came hot on the heels of the assistant s first post. A few days later she was suspended, investigated, and ultimately dismissed in January 2019 after a disciplinary hearing.

Kristie Higgs is now seeking 56 thousand pounds in damages at a Bristol employment tribunal, with hearings taking place on 21-25 September. In her statement, Ms Higgs writes that – according to her faith – God created man and woman, and she does not believe in gender ideology. She added that she thought many parents did not even know what was going on in schools, so he felt she needed to draw attention to it.

Ms Higgs is represented by the Christian Legal Center, who argue that her firing by the school was based on accusations of illegal discrimination, as well as on the misuse of social media. Although the school complained that Ms Higgs posts had tarnished its good reputation, it could not present any evidence to that effect, nor link it to Kristie Higgs posts on social media.

The case has brought further anomalies to the fore. Ms Higgs claims, for example, that senior school staff members have compared her views to „Nazi right-wing extremists” at the disciplinary hearing. She also revealed that, during the internal investigation, they ppred through her work-related email account and asked why she used that email address to receive quotes from the Bible. She was also told that she had no right to freedom of opinion or to share her religious views.

According to Christian Legal Center Director Andrea Williams, many Christians have faced pressure for expressing these views in the workplace before, but this case revolves around actually firing someone. Ms Williams stressed that Ms Higgs had „an exemplary record at the school and in her work with youth in the wider community. If Kristie does not win this case, due to one complaint, she will never be able to work with children again.”

The extent to which LGBT ideology is being adopted in schools in the UK is well illustrated by the fact that LGBT education will be compulsory in secondary schools. From next summer, secondary schools which neglect to teach pupils LGBT lessons will not receive a rating better than „requires improvement” from Ofsted, the British schools regulator.

A report published by Ofsted this week asserted that schools would still be allowed „to teach the tenets of any faith on the protected characteristics,” such as same-sex couples not being allowd to marry or engage in sexual relations according to a particular religion. „However, if they do so, they must also explain the legal rights LGBT people have under UK law, and that this and LGBT people must be respected,” the document states.