Trustee makes anti-trans remarks on social media

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This article was published 06/06/2023 (866 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A St. Boniface school trustee is facing backlash for a series of anti-LGBTTQ+ social media posts published in the days leading up to Pride month.

Francine Champagne, a rookie board member in Winnipeg’s Louis Riel School Division, has taken to her personal Facebook page to share conspiracy theories and sensationalistic content about the trans community.

“The sexualization of our children in schools is all part of the agenda (insert angry face emoji),” the Ward 1 representative wrote in a May 25 post that links to stopworldcontrol.com — a website filled with false information that is self-described as being dedicated to “the worldwide mission for freedom.”

The site makes outrageous claims, including the World Health Organization is planning to create ongoing pandemics to control humanity. It also falsely suggests both the United Nations and WHO have said “children must have sexual partners.”

On May 13, Champagne published an image with text that reads: “To identify as = To live a lie.”

The elected official also recently shared another user’s post that states: “Make men masculine again. Make women feminine again. Make children innocent again.”

“These kinds of comments are so hurtful to those who are on their gender identity journey… Making people feel like they are unwanted or a mistake, and trying to police their bodies and health care is abuse, plain and simple,” said Larissa Sotas, a mother of a transgender student in LRSD.

Champagne did not respond to requests for comment Monday.

Board chairwoman Sandy Nemeth confirmed she was aware of the posts. Nemeth noted this is a personnel matter and referred a reporter to LRSD’s code of conduct for trustees.

Each board member must sign a document pledging to prevent any real or perceived conflicts of interest and adhere to all internal policies at the start of their term. LRSD’s respect for human diversity documents state everyone is welcome into its facilities and a person’s self-identification is the sole measure of their gender.

“All individuals have the right to be addressed by a name and pronoun that corresponds to their gender identity or expression,” per internal protocols.

If a trustee breaches division policies, they may be subject to public censure, among other disciplinary measures.

Both Sotas and Thomas Linner, a father who lives in Ward 1, want officials to take corrective action to address Champagne’s actions.

Hateful attacks against trans and queer youth take a severe toll on student mental health and contribute to disproportionately high suicide rates among these marginalized groups, said Linner, provincial director of the Manitoba Health Coalition.

“The problem here is not that we have one individual school trustee who believes in these conspiracy theories. The problem is that we are facing a movement, fuelled by these reactionary beliefs,” he added.

LRSD issued a statement touting the importance of diverse library collections amid recent discussions about LGBTTQ+ books in Brandon schools.

The president of the Manitoba Teachers’ Society said the Winnipeg trustee’s posts are not unrelated to a recent incident during which a group of rural residents decried the availability of books with queer characters.

“What happened in Brandon sent a clear message,” said union leader Nathan Martindale, noting the mobilization of hundreds of community members in support of the LGBTTQ+ community.

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“We’re not going to sit back and allow that type of rhetoric and hate to be tolerated in schools.”

Champagne earned 2,817 votes in the October 2022 election. The rookie defeated veteran trustee Tom Parker by roughly 100 ballots to secure LRSD’s second seat for Ward 1 and serve alongside incumbent Cindy Turner.

The new official’s biography states she was born and raised in St. Boniface, works as a French teacher and translator, and is the mother of a university student who attended both home school and public school.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie

Maggie Macintosh
Education reporter

Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie.

Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative.

Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.