A transgender teacher with prosthetic Z-cup breasts has finally been suspended from his Canadian school after pictures showed his in men’s clothing, proving he does not wear the provocative attire all the time.
Kayla Lemieux, who claims the breasts are real and the result of a medical condition, has come under fire for his tight outfits and huge prosthetics, with parents previously claiming he ‘mocks women and the education experience.’
The Halton District School Board (HDSB) confirmed he had been placed on paid leave on Tuesday – though he continues to be paid for his role at Oakville Trafalgar High School.
‘While not currently on an active assignment, the teacher remains employed with the HDSB,’ board spokesperson Heather Francey told the Toronto Sun.
It came as parents of students lined up to attack the schoolboard for its failure to impose a stricter dress code on Lemieux sooner.
One woman received a rapturous applause on Wednesday evening as he told a board meeting it was imperative that ‘forms of identity and expression presented in the school environment be scrutinized against the child’s safeguarding practices.’
Lemieux has bizarrely insisted his breasts are natural and a result of a condition called ‘gigantomastia’ – though he admits he has never received a formal medical diagnosis.
He also claims to be intersex – meaning he was born with both male and female sex organs – rather than transgender.
But his account was called into question this week as pictures emerged appearing to show his dressed as a man – without the large prosthetics and blonde wig.
The images were the reason for the eventual suspension, the Toronto Sun reports.
Until this week, the teacher had the full backing of his schoolboard who said the issue was a ‘personnel matter.’
Students were even threatened with suspension if they were caught taking pictures or videos of his.
In Wednesday’s board meeting, Lemieux was not mentioned by name as parents, teachers and board members voted on the school’s ‘professionalism’ policies.
At several times HDSB chair Margo Shuttleworth – who previously defended Lemieux as an ‘extremely effective teacher’ – had to quieten noise and applause from parents, asking them to keep their ‘comments inside their head.’
One delegate, named Lynn, poured cold water on the board’s previous suggestion that telling Lemieux how to dress would be illegal.
She cited a piece from Ontario employment lawyer Howard Levitt who said the schoolboard did have the power to ban the teacher’s outrageous outfits but suggested they were too scared to do so.
‘Every collective agreement permits the employer to require its employees to dress reasonably and even more so to require that a teacher of young people be a role model for civility and professionalism,’ she told the meeting, quoting Levitt.
Many others were critical of the ‘survey’ the school had put together about its professionalism policies in the wake of the Lemieux row.
Parents had already expressed frustration that the survey made no mention of the school’s dress code.
