What happened to Kristie Higgs is a chilling tale for our times. It is the Byzantine account of how anyone’s online privacy can be invaded at a keystroke and words twisted to take on a meaning that was never intended.
Hers is the salutary story of a Christian woman sacked from her job at a secondary school for expressing legitimate opinions on a social media platform that ran counter to the woke agenda being promoted in early education.
“I’m not any sort of activist,” the 49-year-old tells me quietly. “I’m not angry, I’m not a bigot; I’m just an ordinary person who has been fighting to tell the truth and have that truth acknowledged.
“I feel relieved it’s all over. The Appeal Court judgment represents a landmark day for Christian freedom and free speech – but honestly I just want to get on with my life.”
Last week three judges ruled in Higgs’s favour, describing her employer’s decision to dismiss her for gross misconduct as “unlawfully discriminatory” and “disproportionate”.
Lord Justice Underhill, sitting with Lord Justice Bean and Lady Justice Falk, said: “The claimant’s beliefs that gender is binary and that same-sex marriage cannot be equated with marriage between a man and a woman are protected by the Equality Act.
“The Court of Appeal has confirmed, loud and clear, that ideological censorship at the workplace is illegal, and any employer who tramples upon their employees’ right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion breaks the law of the land.
Source: Kristie Higgs: ‘I’m not a bigot – I’m just an ordinary person fighting to tell the truth’