A Quesnel teacher/counsellor vowed to fight a three-month suspension for writing a letter against homosexuality and gay marriage to a local newspaper.

"It is truly unfortunate that the Quesnel School Board believes that only those who support same-sex marriage are able to comment publicly on a matter of national importance," Chris Kempling said. "It is a sad day for freedom of speech, freedom of conscience and freedom of political association."

District superintendent Ed Napier said yesterday the suspension is effective immediately and stems from the letter Kempling wrote in the Quesnel Cariboo Observer on Jan. 12 arguing against homosexuality and gay marriage.

"The board reviewed the letter Mr. Kempling wrote [to the paper] and felt he had violated a previous district directive," Napier said. "The issue, essentially, was not so much that he was expressing his views on legalizing gay marriage but more his expression of views in a negative and discriminatory context that the board felt was resulting in potential for a poisoned and unsafe environment for students and staff in the Quesnel School District."

Kempling, 47, who wrote a series of anti-gay articles in local papers between 1997 and 2000, was earlier suspended for a month by the B.C. College of Teachers for professional misconduct.

Kempling said he plans to grieve the latest suspension and fight it via the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal.

"I am most concerned about the young children with serious emotional needs who will be deprived of their counsellor at a time when they need help most," Kempling said.

"Counselling, much more than teaching, involves a close personal relationship where trust develops over time. I'm really very worried about their well-being."

But Napier argued the students' well-being is the reasoning behind the suspension.

"We're always concerned that we maintain our school as a safe, positive learning environment -- that is always an issue for us," he said.

Kempling, a Christian who wants to run for the Christian Heritage Party in the provincial election, argued the district's restriction on him -- a directive not to publish or distribute anything that mentions his views on homosexuality -- would prevent his candidacy.

Kempling alleges the directive infringes on his freedom of religion, association and expression under the Charter.

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