Kristie Higgs, a former pastoral assistant at a nominally Christian school in Fairford, England, has initiated a Court of Appeal challenge in London against her dismissal. In 2019, the Farmor’s School, run by the Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England, terminated Higgs for gross misconduct after she shared Facebook posts criticizing the introduction of LGBTQ relationship education at her son’s school.
In a 2018 post decrying “brainwashing” in schools, Higgs criticized government moves to make “Relationships and Sex Education mandatory,” warning that “children will be taught that all relationships are equally valid and ‘normal,’ so that same-sex marriage is exactly the same as traditional marriage and that gender is a matter of choice, not biology so that it’s up to them what sex they are.”
Higgs said this would mean that “expressing and teaching fundamental Christian beliefs, relating to the creation of men and women and marriage will in practice become forbidden—because they conflict with the new morality and are seen as indoctrination into unacceptable religious bigotry.”
She further said this would mean that “freedom of belief will be destroyed, with freedom of speech permitted only for those who toe the party line!” The school responded by firing her.
CHRISTIANS SILENCED.
In 2020, an Employment Tribunal upheld the dismissal, which she challenged as infringing on freedom of religion and expression. In 2023, an Employment Appeal Tribunal ruled her case had not been appropriately handled. Still, it referred it back to the lower tribunal for a fresh determination instead of ruling definitively in her favor, prompting her to take the matter to the Court of Appeal.
“This is not just about me. It cannot be right that so many Christians are losing their jobs or facing discipline for sharing biblical truth, our Christian beliefs,” she said outside the Royal Courts of Justice on Wednesday. “I am not alone to be treated this way. Many of the others… have faced similar consequences,” she added.
“‘I’ve been waiting five years for justice”
Kristie Higgs lost her job for Facebook posts raising awareness of inappropriate LGBTQ material being used at her child’s school.
Over five years later, she is still waiting to be vindicated. Her landmark case is being heard today… pic.twitter.com/IvcwrXIUoz
— Christian Concern (@CConcern) October 2, 2024
