Canadian teacher placed on leave after months of debate over Z size breast implants

A Canadian high school teacher has been placed on leave after wearing breast implants in class.

Parents of students at Oakville Trafalgar High School southwest of Toronto, where Kayla Lemieux taught shop class, were left frustrated after months of debate over her appearance.

School district officials said she was placed on paid leave earlier this week, according to New York Post.

“Although the teacher is not currently on active duty, he remains employed by” the Halton District School Board, spokeswoman Heather Francey told Toronto Sun.

The decision to take out the teacher came later The mail reported that reporters followed her and discovered that she only wears prosthetics in class and appears to dress as a man when not at work.

Mrs. Lemieux told The mail that the man in the photos they published was not her and said she had a rare condition that caused her to have larger than normal breasts.

The newspaper reported that the teacher was suspended after Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce and members of provincial parliament Natalie Pierre, Stephen Crawford and Effie Triantafilopoulos criticized the school board for “abdicating their responsibility by failing to put the interests and safety” of students first» The sun reported.

A mother, identified only as Lynn, told the board on Wednesday that “forms of identity and expression presented in the school environment (must) be scrutinized against the child’s care practices”.

Both school officials and the teacher have been subjected to threats, and the meetings of the board of education have become chaotic.

The mail last month reported that “when Lemieux is outside of school, Lemieux often ditches the breasts, wig and makeup and appears as a man.”

A neighbor told The mail that she wears the outfit seen at school “extremely rarely”.

But Lemieux told the paper that the man in the photos published by the outlet is not of her, and she rejected the notion that she wears prosthetics.

“These are real,” she told the paper.

“This is who I am. This is what I look like. You’ve talked to people in my building, but what they tell you is gross and untrue. I always go out looking like I am,” the teacher added.

She added that she started hormone therapy in 2021. She said she was “transitioning” but added that she is not “a transgender person” but was born “intersex”.

She said she has never been diagnosed but told The mail that her large breasts were caused by “gigantomastia”.

“Gigantomastia is a rare condition in which your breasts become too large. It can cause pain, infection, discomfort and body image problems. Health care providers can treat gigantomastia with breast reduction surgery or medication,” the Cleveland Clinic website states.

“The rate at which your breasts grow can vary, from over a few weeks to over several years. The tissue is almost always benign (not cancerous),” it adds.

“It is an unusual condition. Only about 300 cases have been reported, the website says.

Parents have asked the Halton District School Board to put in place a dress code for teachers. It was rejected last year after concerns that it might not comply with the Ontario Human Rights Code.

The school board agreed in January to work to create a policy for teachers to have an “appropriate and professional” appearance.

Mrs. Lemieux told The mail that she “would follow the instructions from the board on what they mandated”, but added that “I don’t think there’s a problem with how I’ve dressed. It’s other people’s personal opinion. I don’t think I’ve dressed unprofessionally” .

The independent has contacted the Halton District County School Board for comment.