Kempling suspension appealed.Quesnel, B.C. -- Early in the year, school teacher Chris Kempling Christopher S. M. Kempling, Psy.D. is an educator and counsellor in British Columbia, Canada, whose suspension for voicing his opinions about homosexuality became the centre of a controversy concerning minority rights and freedom of speech. , an Evangelical Protestant, was penalized pe·nal·ize tr.v. pe·nal·ized, pe·nal·iz·ing, pe·nal·iz·es 1. To subject to a penalty, especially for infringement of a law or official regulation. See Synonyms at punish. 2. by the BC College of Teachers (BCCT BCCT Blue Collar Comedy Tour (movie) BCCT British Columbia College of Teachers BCCT Break Control Command Transducer (NASA) ) for "conduct unbecoming Conduct Unbecoming is a play by Barry England. The plot concerns a scandal in a British regiment stationed in India in the 1880s. The widow of a heroic officer is assaulted by an unrevealed comrade in arms and an investigation takes place to determine his identity. a member". This "unbecoming" conduct consisted in writing letters to the editor of the local paper criticizing the pro-homosexual agenda being promoted in the province's classrooms. (See C.I., March 2003, pp. 37-29; May, pp. 30-31.) Kempling was sentenced in late April to one month's suspension from teaching without pay, which he is appealing. He is buoyed up by the support he has received from both the general Christian community and also from Catholics who together have raised $30,000 to finance the appeal set for July 28-29. "There are no Canadian precedents for an organization to punish a member for conduct off the job," Kempling noted. Meanwhile the British Columbia Civil Liberties Union is seeking to intervene in the court case against Mr. Kempling. Why important? The Kempling case is important evidence for what may happen if MP Svend Robinson's Bill C-250 is passed by the House of Commons House of Commons: see Parliament. in the fall of 2003. C-250 intends to add "sexual orientation sexual orientation n. The direction of one's sexual interest toward members of the same, opposite, or both sexes, especially a direction seen to be dictated by physiologic rather than sociologic forces. " to the Hate Crimes Act. Kempling has never allowed his views on homosexual activity to intrude into his work as a teacher. The BCCT went after him simply for writing letters to the editor! If this charge is upheld at the time when sexual orientation is not even part of the Hate Crimes Act, all discussion, even the most innocuous statements or letters, will become liable to prosecution once Bill C-250 is passed. |
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