A teacher in the United Kingdom has undergone a fitness to practice hearing this week (October 9-13) after refusing to teach LGBTQ+ ideology to her students at a Church of England secondary school.
After 12 years of teaching, Glawdys Leger, 43, was removed from her role as a Modern Foreign Languages teacher in south London in May 2022.
Although part of her job was to incorporate Religious Education (RE) lessons at Bishop Justus CofE School, she declined to follow the syllabus that included teaching extreme LGBTQI ideology. One of these materials is called “Who Am I” and involves lessons on various gender identities, such as transgender, pansexual and asexual.
Instead of only sharing a one-sided narrative with her students, Leger told them that she didn’t agree with transgender ideology and that God designed sex to be for marriage alone.
Leger was fired after a parent complained that their child had heard Leger teach ideas like “LGBTQ+ is a sin,” “God will love you if you aren’t LGBTQ+,” and “transgender people are ‘just confused.’”
Under investigation and faced with a disciplinary hearing, Leger stood up for her beliefs that LGBT is sinful, but adamantly denied ever saying, “God will love you if you are not LGBTQ+.”
After she was dismissed from the teaching position she held since 2017, the Aquinas Church of England Trust reported her to the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA), jeopardizing her career. The TRA sent her a letter stating that her behavior “was contrary to Fundamental British values in that it lacked tolerance to those with different beliefs.”
In Your Inbox
Before the TRA hearing, Leger said, “The impact of what has happened to me has taken a great toll on me. The thought of me losing my career for expressing my Christian beliefs in response to questions from students is heartbreaking.
“I was treated like a criminal and as though I was a danger for expressing my Christian beliefs.
“I have great compassion for LGBT people, especially for those suffering from gender confusion. I cannot, however, in good conscience teach or say things I believe are contrary to my faith, for example saying that same-sex sexual relationships are good and/or affirming people in their gender confusion.
“I am certain that I have not shown, and never would show, any hatred or lack of love towards LGBT people.”
Leger is supported by the Christian Legal Centre, which believes this is the first time the TRA has brought issues with a teacher at a Church of England school to a full hearing.
“Glawdys’s case is part of a growing trend of the TRA targeting Christian teachers for expressing their faith in schools,” said Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre.
“Glawdys was hounded out of the job she loved because she wanted children to understand in an RE lesson in a Christian school that Christian teaching does not align with LGBTQI ideology. She did not want impressionable children heading into their teenage years to be force-fed teaching that endorsed and celebrated gender confusion without question.
“The fact that a Church of England school and affiliated Trust has chosen to try and end her career for expressing her Christian beliefs is disturbing, but sadly no longer surprising.”
