The UK Court of Appeal ruled that Kristie Higgs’ removal due to posts criticizing LGBT propaganda in her son’s school was ‘unlawful discrimination on the ground of religion and belief.’
GLOUCESTERSHIRE, U.K. (LifeSiteNews) -- A Christian teacher in the U.K. has won her appeal after being fired for criticizing the LGBT agenda being pushed in schools.
The Court of Appeal ruled that Kristie Higgs’ removal by Farmor’s School in Gloucestershire due to posts she shared on social media “was unquestionably a disproportionate response.”
In 2019, Higgs lost her job because she expressed her objections to LGBT propaganda being pushed at the Church of England primary school her young son attended. An anonymous complaint was made to the school, accusing her of “posting homophobic and prejudiced views.”
In Facebook posts that could be seen only by her followers, Higgs wrote, “… they are brainwashing our children!” Urging parents to sign a nationwide petition opposing the government’s compulsory sex education, she wrote in a second post on the rise of transgender ideology in children's books in American schools: “This is happening in our primary schools now.”
After an investigation by the school, Higgs was dismissed for gross misconduct, “illegal discrimination,” “serious inappropriate use of social media,” and “online comments that could bring the school into disrepute and damage the reputation of the school.”
READ: UK teacher sacked after posting petition opposing LGBT curriculum
On Wednesday, more than six years after losing her job, Higgs finally won her appeal. Even though an employment appeal tribunal judgment ruled in her favor in 2023, the tribunal sent the case to another tribunal to decide whether or not her removal was lawful. Her lawyers called the step "unnecessary.”
"I pray that today will prove to be a landmark day for Christian freedoms and free speech,” Higgs said outside the court after the ruling. "Christians have the right to express their beliefs on social media and at other non-work-related settings without fear of being punished by their employer."The Court of Appeal ruled that Higgs’ posts were protected speech under the Equality Act and her statement did not risk reputational damage to the school. The court also found that taking the case back to employment tribunals was "unlawfully discriminatory.”
The Christian Legal Centre, which has supported the case from the beginning, said the decision “re-shapes the law on freedom of religion in the workplace.”
“For the first time in employment law, the judgment has effectively established a legal presumption that any dismissal for an expression or manifestation of Christian faith is illegal.”
“The ruling confirms that the Equality Act protects traditional Christian beliefs on social issues, such as opposition to the ideas of transgenderism and ‘gender-fluidity’ and opposition to same-sex marriage,” the Christian Legal Centre stated.
The court also noted in its decision that there were no complaints regarding potential discriminatory treatment of students about Higgs.
The court overruled the decision by the Employment Appeal Tribunal that asked for a re-trial of the case and concluded that “we should ourselves hold that the Claimant’s dismissal constituted unlawful discrimination on the ground of religion and belief.”
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, stated: “Free speech and religious liberty are not yet extinguished from the English law. The outcome of Kristie’s case sets an important legal precedent for many years to come.”
“This is a great victory for Kristie, who lost her job and livelihood for doing no more than expressing her dismay at the nonsensical ideas of gender-fluidity being taught to her child at a Church of England primary school.”
“This is also a victory for the many others who went before Kristie, such as Victoria Wasteney and, the late Richard Page, who were also dismissed for their Christian beliefs in the years past, and sought justice in vain,” she continued. “Yet, at a stroke of a pen, decades of unfair decisions which denied justice to Christians have now been re-interpreted by the Court of Appeal and explained away as no more than exceptions which prove the rule.”
“For all those who stood with us through much darker days of our 16-year-old battle for freedom, it is now time to rejoice and give thanks to God,” Williams concluded.
