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The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal has ordered a former Chilliwack, B.C., school trustee to pay $750,000 to the local teachers association, finding his conduct during his tenure “poisoned” the workplaces of LGBTQ+ staff members.
In a decision dated Feb. 18, the tribunal found Barry Neufeld violated the province’s Human Rights Code with his public campaign against sexual orientation and gender identity resources in schools, commonly known as “SOGI 123.”
The BC Teachers’ Federation and Chilliwack Teachers’ Association had filed the human rights complaint against Neufeld in 2017 on behalf of their members, specifically those who identified as LGBTQ+ from October 2017 through 2022.
They sought $750,000 to be distributed equally among those members, and the decision says the tribunal was satisfied the award was appropriate.
For five years, it says Neufeld “publicly denigrated LGBTQ people and teachers and associated them with the worst forms of child abuse.”
The decision says Neufeld exposed educators to “repeated messages that their very existence was a threat to children, families and social order,” invoking “the most insidious discriminatory stereotypes and tropes” to denigrate their efforts to create an inclusive education environment for LGBTQ+ students.
“(Neufeld) inundated public discourse in Chilliwack with speech that degraded and denied trans people, sought to eliminate public policies for their inclusion, and sounded alarms about an imaginary threat posed by their social acceptance,” the decision says, adding he spread misinformation that “inflamed anti-LGBTQ animus.”
The decision says Neufeld’s conduct amounted to discrimination contrary to the Human Rights Code, with the tribunal ordering him to stop and to refrain from committing the same or similar contraventions moving forward.
The BC Teachers’ Federation issued a statement saying it was celebrating the decision that affirms the rights of LGBTQ+ teachers to be free from discrimination, including attacks on trans identity as “gender ideology.”
President Carole Gordon says the ruling highlights the value of SOGI 123, calling it “an evidence-based teaching resource for reducing discrimination-based harm.”
Reid Clark, president of the Chilliwack Teachers’ Association, says the decision recognizes the “very real harm” experienced by LGBTQ+ teachers in the community and reinforces their right to work in an environment free of discrimination and fear.
B.C.’s human rights commissioner, Kasari Govender, also welcomed the ruling, saying it “affirms that hateful statements or publications are not shielded from the Human Rights Code because they are part of public or political discourse.”
“Publishing statements that deny trans identities and rely on stereotypes create significant harm,” Govender says in a statement issued Thursday.
“The decision is significant for ensuring that human rights laws apply to political and public statements from our elected officials and affirming that trans people are entitled to have their identities recognized and rights respected.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 19, 2026.
Brenna Owen, The Canadian Press
