Chris Kempling

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Christopher S. M. Kempling, Psy.D. is an educator and counsellor in British Columbia, Canada, whose suspension for expressing derogatory opinions about homosexuality became the centre of a controversy concerning freedom of speech versus the neutrality and non-discriminatory atmosphere of the public school system.

[edit] Kempling's public statements and his disciplinary treatment

Kempling had been employed as a teacher and counsellor by the Quesnel School District at a high school in Quesnel, British Columbia since 1990. In 1997 he began to write a series of letters to the editor of a local newspaper, the Quesnel Cariboo Observer, expressing concern over the presentation of homosexuality in school curricula. With regard to homosexuality, he claimed: "I refuse to be a false teacher saying that promiscuity is acceptable, perversion is normal, and immorality is simply 'cultural diversity' of which we should be proud."^[1] Among other things, Kempling's letters objected to the British Columbia Teachers' Federation (BCTF), the union that represents teachers in British Columbia, distributing teaching-aid literature which had been produced by the Gay and Lesbian Educators of BC, and which in his view was erroneous. He also cited various studies that he interprets as showing harm caused by what he described as the "homosexual lifestyle". Kempling, an advocate of reparative therapy, wrote:

"Sexual orientations can be changed and the success rate for those who seek help is high. My hope is students who are confused over their sexual orientation will come to see me." ^[2]

For these letters, Kempling was cited in May 2001 for professional misconduct by the BC College of Teachers (BCCT), the body which regulates the teaching profession in British Columbia, leading to a hearing in May 2002 before the BCCT Disciplinary Committee, which ruled that Kempling’s statements were discriminatory, and therefore unacceptable. As punishment he was suspended for one month.^[3] He appealed his suspension all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, which refused to hear his appeal in 2006.^{[2] [4]}

While his appeals were in process, Kempling was interviewed by CBC Radio in January, 2003, and made similar statements. In response to this, his school district wrote him a letter instructing him not to express his views on homosexuality in any school setting or publish them elsewhere.^[5] In January, 2004, Kempling was again interviewed by CBC Radio, this time about the private counselling service that he was advertising in Prince George, which offered therapy for gay men who want to become heterosexual. This interview became the rationale for a formal letter of reprimand from the Quesnel School District. Kempling complained to the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal on the grounds that his religious freedom was being infringed, a complaint that the Tribunal rejected in November 2005.[1]

In that same year, while his case was before the Human Rights Tribunal, Kempling became a spokesman for the Christian Heritage Party of Canada and was made that party's candidate in the Cariboo—Prince George riding during the Canadian federal election, 2006. As a spokesman for the political party he was representing, Kempling wrote another letter to the editor criticizing the recently proposed Civil Marriage Act, which would allow same-sex couples to marry. Quesnel School District suspended him for three months as a breach of its earlier direction. [2] Ironically, the Bill C-38 parliamentary committee investigating the same sex marriage bill invited Dr. Kempling to testify as an official witness in June, 2005. The Quesnel School Board initiated another disciplinary investigation in response to Kempling's parliamentary testimony, but withdrew it after MP Bill Siksay (NDP), an openly gay member of the committee, and MP Vic Toews, wrote letters expressing their concern over the school board's attempt to intimidate a witness of parliament.

In speeches, on the radio, and in seeking to assert his rights in courts and tribunals, Kempling has argued that his treatment violated his rights to free expression because he wrote the letters on his own time, he was expressing common social conservative opinions, and there were no complaints to the school board or the BCCT from the public prior to the disciplinary action. He also said that it was a violation of his religious freedom rights as Kempling's views are based on his Christian beliefs.^[3][5][6]

Kempling appealed to the courts to overturn his suspension. The Supreme Court of British Columbia and the British Columbia Court of Appeal both upheld the BCCT disciplinary action. The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association and the British Columbia Public School Employers Association both intervened against Kempling in the Court of Appeal case.^[3][7] Intervening on Kempling's behalf were the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, the Catholic Civil Rights League, the Christian Teachers Association, The Christian Legal Fellowship, and the British Columbia Teachers' Federation. The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal denied his complaint in November, 2005.^[5] The Supreme Court of Canada decided in January, 2006, that it would not hear his appeal.^[8]

In a press release issued after failing to make progress at the Supreme Court of Canada, Kempling stated "It is my intention to keep on fighting by filing a formal complaint with the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. While that won't affect today's court decision, it may embarrass Canada into reviewing its alleged commitment to free speech rights for religious minorities."^[9] To this end, Dr. Kempling was invited to speak at the UN Commission on Human Rights in New York City in March, 2005. The appeal to the commission is still pending.

In 2008, Kempling was cited again by the BCCT for "conduct unbecoming a teacher".^[10] In a letter to supporters he says the 2008 citation is based on events that occurred between February 2003 and April 2005, specifically "participating in a CBC radio interview where I quoted the Bible saying that homosexual behaviour is a barrier to salvation, for contributing an essay discussing the philosophical differences between social liberals and social conservatives (published in the Calgary Herald on December 29, 2003), for publishing a scholarly article in a German family journal on the topic of homosexuality, for offering orientation change therapy as part of my private counselling practice and mentioning this in a radio interview, and, incredibly, for "knowing" that an article written by Christian Heritage Party leader Ron Gray in support of me was posted on the party's website. They also cited me for being "the local representative of the Christian Heritage Party". This is certainly true as I was the candidate for the CHP, Canada's sixth largest registered political party, in the last federal election in the Cariboo-Prince George riding (I came 5th out of 8 candidates.)"^[11] The Calgary Herald describes the 2003 essay Kempling contributed to as having "nothing remotely hateful in it".^[10]

Some regard Kempling's ordeal as an example of how gay rights in Canada have expanded and can conflict with freedom of expression and religious freedom in Canada.^[12]

[edit] Footnotes