A Calgary educator has launched two human rights complaints, claiming she was forced to leave her job as the principal of a Catholic school because of issues including her sexual orientation.
Speaking exclusively to CTV Calgary, Barb Hamilton said she reluctantly quit her position at St. Joseph Elementary Junior High School in 2017.
“Their perspective is, I resigned and mine is, I wasn’t given a choice,” she said.
In the human rights complaints, Hamilton argues that the Calgary Catholic School District discriminated against her by refusing to employ her because of her religious beliefs, sexual orientation and marital status.
While principal at St. Joseph, she had filed an affidavit as part of a court case involving gay-straight alliances in Alberta schools. She said in the affidavit that she was aware of 10 LGBTQ students in her school who had hurt themselves or dealt with offensive comments from friends or relatives.
Hamilton said she went to the publicly funded school board seeking help, but didn’t see any changes. She hopes taking her complaints public will help other people facing similar situations.
“I don’t think silence contributes constructive solutions to the problem,” she said.
The Calgary Catholic School District said in a statement that it supports students’ needs by providing “welcoming, caring respectful and safe learning environments for all.”
