A Red Deer, Alta. school board trustee says she wasn’t comparing LGBT activists to Nazis in a social media post that got her condemned by her own school board, but rather was making a point about “indoctrination.”
Monique LaGrange, a first time school board trustee for Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools, uploaded to Instagram an archival photo of German children waving the Nazi flag juxtaposed with a contemporary picture of children waving the Pride Progress flag. The post had the caption “brainwashing is brainwashing.”
In an exclusive interview with True North, Lagrange says that she uploaded the picture to social media because she thought the picture was a “great representation of what is happening within our culture and within our schools.”
“The intention was to and always is to bring awareness to protecting the kids. This is why I stepped up, it’s about protecting the kids from agendas that are not healthy. This is something that shouldn’t be in the schools. This should be between kids and their parents.”
Hours after posting the picture, Lagrange said the then-chair of the school board asked her to take it down.
The post drew the attention of the rest of the Red Deer school board, as well as the Alberta Catholic School Trustees’ Association (ACSTA), on which she sat as a director representing Red Deer.
LaGrange was stripped of her position as a director on the ACSTA and was condemned by the ACSTA’s president Harry Salm.
“Our Catholic schools love all students as gifts from God made in His image, irrespective of their sexual orientation and gender expression,” wrote Salm in a statement.
“Removing a representative from our board is not a decision we take lightly, and Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools is invited to select a replacement Director to represent them. Given the manner in which the previous Director’s post has the potential to undermine the charitable learning environment offered by Alberta’s Catholic school system, we consider this to be the most appropriate response.”
Despite being reprimanded, LaGrange defended uploading the post.
“No, I don’t regret posting it at all. People need to learn,” she said. “This is not about comparing one community to another or saying they’re Nazis, or anything to do with that; this is about indoctrination,” said Lagrange.
Alberta Teachers Association president Jason Schilling condemned LaGrange’s post, calling it “repugnant” and a “form of repression.”
“Not only does it serve to undermine the atrocities of the Nazi regime, but it also acts as a form of oppression to entice further hatred toward members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community,” said Schilling.
“So to see this posting by Ms. LaGrange that is repugnant, vile [and] hate-filled really undermines that safe space that we try very hard to create at schools.”
LaGrange responded by saying Schilling “doesn’t understand history.”
“Obviously he doesn’t understand what has taken place, but that’s okay like he’s obviously still asleep which most people are,” she said.
“I think he doesn’t understand that we’re here to protect our children, I’m here to protect the children and that’s what this is about.”
LaGrange said she has received a lot of negative pushback to her post, especially with early news reporters about it, but that she has already received an outpouring from “hundreds” of people who agree with her message.
