A school employee Kristie Higgs, who was sacked over her social media posts against LGBT material in class, has won the right to take her case to the United Kingdom Court of Appeal.
The 47-year-old Christian mother of two won the right in a ruling by Lady Justice Elisabeth Laing of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, recently.
She had worked as a student counseling assistant for seven years at the Farmor’s School in Fairford, Gloucestershire, before she was sacked in 2019.
A legal company Christian Legal Centre under an advocacy group Christian Concern, is assisting her defense. Speaking with the group in a video interview, she said, “It’s shocking to think I’ve lost my job because of one parent who complained to the school because they didn’t agree with what I shared on my Facebook page, and for the school to take sides with that parent is hard to believe.”
Higgs’ problems started when she got an invitation from her younger son’s school, Church of England Primary School. Though the school said they wanted to promote equality using some teaching materials, the mother found out that the books, which served as the materials, were confusing. This was in October 2018.
The invitation read in part, “This year, we are using several story books to help our school community promote diversity and celebrate difference. Children will become very familiar with the phrase, ‘No outsiders in our school,’ as they work through the story books. This is in line with the Equality Act 2010.”
The invitation was aimed at making the parents see the books and lesson plan. According to the Christian mother, she saw books such as ‘Jacob’s New Dress’ by Sarah Hoffman, which was about a boy who likes to wear dresses
She also saw another book, ‘Red: A Crayon’s Story by Michael Hall,’ which was about a blue crayon suffering an identity crisis because it is not red.
Higgs said, “To me, it didn’t seem to be that it was just about anti-bullying. There seemed to be something more underlying, with the ‘Jacob’s New Dress’ and Red crayon books’. It could be how children could choose their gender. I thought it was very confusing for my child because of our Christian beliefs.”
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