The Canadian high school teacher who made headlines for wearing giant prosthetic breasts to school has been placed on paid leave after reports broke that he does not wear them outside of school.
This week, the Halton School District in Ontario reportedly confirmed that Kayla Lemieux, who teaches at Oakville Trafalgar High School, was placed on leave (via New York Post):
“While not currently on an active assignment, the teacher remains employed with the (Halton District School Board),” spokesperson Heather Francey told the Toronto Sun.
Lemieux’s suspension comes after Education Minister Stephen Lecce and Halton Region MPPs Natalie Pierre, Stephen Crawford and Effie Triantafilopoulos rebuked the school board for having “abdicated its responsibility by failing to put the interests and safety of students first,” according to the Sun.
One mother named Lynn told the school board Wednesday that “forms of identity and expression presented in the school environment [must] be scrutinized against the child’s safeguarding practices.”
The board has remained largely quiet about Lemieux while parents have raged for months about her wearing the prosthetics in front of students.
Last month, the New York Post spoke to one of Lemieux’s neighbors who revealed that the “transgender” teacher wears the prosthetic breasts “extremely infrequently” and “puts the breasts on to teach, occasionally when he goes for a walk or when the cops visit," which Townhall covered.
Trans teacher with Z-size prosthetic breasts dresses as man outside of school, neighbor says https://t.co/9QmrUkjVNP pic.twitter.com/xLAlkCeCeP
— New York Post (@nypost) February 17, 2023
In the report, the Post noted that Lemieux left his job at the school one day wearing prosthetic breasts, a wig and big glasses. Shortly after returning home, Lemieux reemerged “dressed as a man” to run errands.
“Lemieux then spent the afternoon in public wearing men’s sweatpants, trainers, a gray T-shirt and a navy puffer vest without breasts, makeup, glasses or wig,” the report said.
Photos of Lemieux teaching wearing prosthetic breasts went viral last fall. And, when backlash ensued, the school district came out and defended the teacher, citing the Ontario Human Rights Code, which Townhall covered,
“We are aware of discussion on social media and in the media regarding Oakville Trafalgar High School. We would like to take this opportunity to reiterate to our community that we are committed to establishing and maintaining a safe, caring, inclusive, equitable environment for all students and staff,” an email to the school community said.
After dozens of images of the teacher circulated the internet, students were banned from photographing him, which Townhall also covered.