Silence is not progress.
For most British Columbians, Trinity Western University has slipped quietly out of the headlines. The Langley evangelical school's bid to launch the country's first Christian law school ended at the Supreme Court of Canada in June 2018. Within two months, TWU's board of governors made its notorious Community Covenant optional for students. The story, in the public imagination, was over. Queer students could enrol. The lawsuit was lost. Time to move on.
That story is wrong.
By every measure The Langley Union has been able to find, the climate for 2SLGBTQIA+ students at Trinity Western has worsened in the seven years since the court ruling, not improved.
The covenant is gone for students, but the belief system that produced it has not changed. The institutional pressure to keep queer students invisible has intensified. And in at least one case described to this publication by an anonymous source, the work of enforcement has moved from the administration to the students themselves.
A queer student at TWU was reportedly recalled home by their parents within the last few years after fellow students contacted the family to disclose the student's sexual orientation. The incident is one thread in a broader climate of fear.
The Langley Union has not independently verified the specific incident, and the source spoke on condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal. But the broader pattern, the source said, is something other queer students on campus know about, talk about among themselves, and fear.
Queer students on campus reportedly meet only in strict secrecy. Some avoid queer-affirming social gatherings at local churches, worried that being seen at one could out them by accident.
Multiple current queer students approached for this article either declined to comment or did not respond.
That silence is itself part of the story.
President Todd Martin was offered the opportunity for an on-the-record interview.
TWU has not provided a response. This article will be updated if a response is received.
A campus rearranged around exclusion
The campus group One TWU, which provides peer support for 2SLGBTQIA+ students and alumni, has been gradually pushed off campus over the last seven years.
Co-director Carter Sawatzky, writing in Xtra Magazine in 2023, described being told in a private meeting with senior TWU administrators that continued public criticism could jeopardize the university's accreditation reviews in nursing and education.
Since 2019, when former president Mark Husbands took office, the group has not been allowed to advertise its support services on campus.
In 2023, after eight consecutive years of approval, the school denied One TWU permission to host its annual storytelling event on campus, forcing organizers to move it to the Fort Langley Community Hall.
The theatre department, long an unofficial refuge for queer students at the school, was closed without meaningful faculty consultation.
Allyson Jule, who had served as dean of education and had publicly supported SOGI inclusion in BC schools, was advised by senior leadership that her continued allyship made her position untenable.
Faculty at TWU voted to unionize in October 2021, on the heels of a 71 per cent non-confidence vote against then-president Mark Husbands. The university challenged the certification, delaying the result for seventeen months.
The faculty are now represented by the Christian Labour Association of Canada, or CLAC, whose representative told reporters in 2023 that "CLAC and TWU share a worldview." The union ratified its first three-year collective agreement with the school in 2024.
To date, CLAC has not publicly raised the pattern of administrative push-out of queer-allied faculty as a grievance issue.
What the 2018 case actually decided
The 2018 Supreme Court ruling, in Law Society of British Columbia v. Trinity Western University, found that the mandatory Community Covenant created a risk of significant harm to 2SLGBTQIA+ people, and that provincial law societies were entitled to refuse accreditation to TWU's proposed law school on those grounds.
The covenant required all students, staff, and faculty to abstain from "sexual intimacy that violates the sacredness of marriage between a man and a woman," on penalty of suspension or expulsion.
TWU made the covenant non-mandatory for students in August 2018. However, faculty, staff, and student leaders remain bound by it today.
What the public conversation missed at the time, and largely still misses, is that the covenant was never just a piece of paper. It was the formal expression of an ideology, and the institution has not changed that ideology.
The covenant also established an enforcement architecture: contact persons to whom students could be reported, a code of conduct disciplinary process, the threat of suspension or expulsion. When TWU dropped the formal rule for students, it did not dismantle the belief system, and it did not build any meaningful protection for queer students in its place.
The enforcement function did not disappear.
It went underground.
The enforcement went underground
Removing a formal rule of discrimination does not remove the discriminatory culture that produced it, and in some respects it makes the resulting harm harder to document.
There is no longer a paper trail. There are no formal expulsions to cite.
There are anonymous phone calls home to parents, hostile dorm conversations, students disappearing mid-semester, and a queer support group that cannot put up any posters.
The covenant has been made optional. The system that enforced it has not.
Under Martin, no reform
The pattern under TWU's current administration is not better.
Todd Martin became the university's sixth president in April 2025. One month earlier, The Langley Union reported, alongside the Daily Dot and the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, that Martin's adult son Geoffrey Martin had been identified as the operator of "Captive Dreamer," a prominent white nationalist account on X with more than 70,000 followers and a subscriber list that included U.S. Vice President JD Vance.
The son is not the father, and Geoffrey Martin's choices are his own.
But for queer students looking up at the leadership of an institution that has failed them for decades, the disclosure offered cold comfort about the cultural direction the school was likely to take under its incoming president.
In the fourteen months since Martin's inauguration, TWU has announced no policy reforms regarding LGBTQ2S+ inclusion, no review of the One TWU restrictions, and no public acknowledgment of the documented push-out of allied faculty.
An American import Canadians rejected
There is a structural mismatch at the heart of this story that deserves naming.
TWU's reputation, its recruiting pipeline, and much of its donor base are anchored not in mainstream Canadian society but in the broader transnational culture of American evangelicalism.
That community has drifted hard toward MAGA over the last decade.
The fights that animate its political identity now, against drag performers, against trans inclusion in sports and schools, against SOGI curricula, against pride flags in classrooms, are imported from south of the border.
They are increasingly out of step with the legal and cultural consensus of the country TWU operates in.
Canadians made that consensus explicit in the spring 2025 federal election.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre ran what was widely described as a Maple MAGA campaign, leaning into anti-DEI and anti-trans rhetoric, Trump-style slogans, and a posture of cultural grievance imported wholesale from the American right.
His laser focus on American-style culture war politics cost the Conservative Party of Canada what many assumed to be an inevitable majority government. His political brand of right-wing cultural grievance was so odious he even lost his own Ottawa-area seat, which he had held for two decades.
Poilievre needed a rescue to get back to Parliament. It was only after a Conservative MP in one of Alberta's safest "blue no matter who" ridings stepped aside for him that he was allowed to return to Parliament.
The country, given the choice between Mark Carney's pragmatism and Poilievre's imported outrage, picked pragmatism by a clear margin.
Trinity Western, tucked into a rural Langley campus in a traditionally conservative corner of the Lower Mainland, faces no equivalent ballot box.
A federal political party that misreads the Canadian electorate gets thrown out. A private religious university whose internal culture drifts further from the values of its host country can keep going indefinitely, as long as tuition keeps flowing and the donor base stays loyal. There is no electoral check. There is no immediate market discipline, because the recruiting pool is geographically and culturally elsewhere.
SOGI-123 is BC Ministry of Education policy. Same-sex marriage has been federal law since 2005. Conversion therapy has been illegal under federal law since January 2022.
Trinity Western, by every external measure, is out of step with the legal and cultural consensus of the place where it operates. It survives that mismatch by drawing its students and its money from somewhere else, and by counting on the rest of us not to look too closely.
What you can do
What can individuals actually do about any of this?
More than you might think.
Trinity Western is a private institution funded by tuition, donations, athletics revenue, and the goodwill of the surrounding community. Each of those is a pressure point.
If you have friends or family members who attend, support, or are considering attending TWU, the most useful thing you can do is have a direct conversation about what is happening to queer students on that campus, and ask them to look at the sourced record.
If you are a parent considering Trinity Western for a child you suspect may be queer or questioning, the documented pattern of harm should weigh heavily on your decision, regardless of how attractive the academic or athletic programs may seem.
TWU's Spartans athletics teams compete in Canada West and U Sports. Their visibility depends on fans, ticket revenue, and community goodwill. Each of those is a choice the public makes.
And then there is the simplest form of action, which is also the hardest.
Refusing to let the silence settle.
Queer students at Trinity Western are not safe enough right now to speak for themselves. People who can speak for them, who have the credibility and the distance to push back without losing their housing or their tuition or their place in their own families, should.
The story of what is happening at this Langley institution did not end in 2018.
It went quiet.
There is a difference.
The following section is provided as a public resource for readers who wish to contact the offices listed below. It is not part of The Langley Union's editorial content.
How to Make Your Voice Heard
Below is a directory of the regulatory, accreditation, and athletic bodies that hold formal authority over aspects of Trinity Western University's operations, alongside short scripts you can adapt in your own words.
Be civil, be specific, be persistent.
A public official or association staffer is far more likely to respond to a request that cites the documented record and asks pointed questions than to a generic complaint.
For education accreditation bodies (Minister Sunner, BC Teachers' Council)
Contacts
- The BC Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills authorizes Trinity Western's degree-granting status. Minister Jessie Sunner: PSFS.Minister@gov.bc.ca, or by mail at PO Box 9080 Stn Prov Govt, Victoria BC V8W 9E2.
- The BC Teachers' Council approves TWU's teacher education program: BCTC@gov.bc.ca.
Script
Subject: Trinity Western University and the safety of 2SLGBTQIA+ students
Dear [Minister Sunner / Members of the BC Teachers' Council],
I am writing as a British Columbian concerned about the documented institutional environment for 2SLGBTQIA+ students and faculty at Trinity Western University in Langley. Reporting by The Langley Union, Xtra Magazine, CBC News, and Maclean's has established a pattern that includes restrictions on the campus support group One TWU, the closure of the theatre department, the departure of allied faculty including former Dean of Education Allyson Jule, and ongoing safety concerns described by current and former students.
Your office holds responsibility for [authorizing TWU's degree-granting status / approving TWU's teacher education program]. I would like a clear answer to three questions:
- What review mechanism ensures that BC-authorized post-secondary institutions provide a safe environment for 2SLGBTQIA+ students and faculty?
- What specific steps will your office take in response to the documented pattern at Trinity Western University?
- SOGI 123 is official BC Ministry of Education policy, intended to ensure safe and inclusive spaces for 2SLGBTQIA+ children in our K-12 schools. The BC Teachers' Council approves Trinity Western's teacher education program, and its graduates become eligible for certification and placement in BC classrooms. What investigations have been conducted, and what mechanisms currently exist, to confirm that TWU graduates, who have spent their formative training years immersed in the institutional culture documented above, are prepared and committed to uphold the SOGI framework's promise of safety for the children in their care?
I would appreciate a written response.
Sincerely, [Your name] [Your community]
For nursing accreditors (CASN, BCCNM)
Contacts:
- The Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing (CASN) accredits TWU's nursing program. General inquiries: inquire@casn.ca. Accreditation specifically: Managing Director Layal Bou Abdo, lbou-abdo@casn.ca, (613) 235-3150 ext. 162.
- The BC College of Nurses and Midwives (BCCNM) recognizes TWU's nursing program for licensure purposes in BC. Education program review: epr@bccnm.ca. BCCNM, 900-200 Granville St, Vancouver BC V6C 1S4.
Script:
Subject: Trinity Western University nursing program and 2SLGBTQIA+ patient care
Dear [CASN Accreditation Bureau / BCCNM Education Program Review],
I am writing as a British Columbian concerned about the documented institutional environment for 2SLGBTQIA+ students and faculty at Trinity Western University in Langley. Reporting by The Langley Union, Xtra Magazine, CBC News, and Maclean's has established a pattern that includes restrictions on the campus support group One TWU, the closure of the theatre department, the departure of allied faculty including former Dean of Education Allyson Jule, and ongoing safety concerns described by current and former students.
Trinity Western's School of Nursing is [accredited by CASN / recognized by BCCNM as a registered nursing education program].
Graduates from this program enter clinical practice across BC and the rest of Canada, where they will be expected to provide safe, competent, and ethical care to patients of every sexual orientation and gender identity.
That includes patients seeking gender-affirming care, queer youth navigating mental health crises, intersex patients, and the family members of all of the above.
BCCNM's own Indigenous Cultural Safety, Cultural Humility, and Anti-racism Practice Standard establishes a clear precedent that cultural safety is a non-negotiable element of competent nursing practice.
I would like a clear answer to three questions:
- What standards does your organization apply to evaluate whether a nursing program prepares graduates to deliver culturally safe and clinically competent care to 2SLGBTQIA+ patients?
- What evidence does your organization require from accredited or recognized programs to demonstrate that this preparation is actually taking place, rather than being asserted in self-evaluation documents?
- Given the documented institutional environment at Trinity Western University, what review or investigation has your organization conducted into whether its School of Nursing meets your standards on this dimension, and what are the next steps?
I would appreciate a written response.
Sincerely, [Your name] [Your community]
For counselling accreditors (CCPA / CACEP):
Contact:
The Council on Accreditation of Counsellor Education Programs (CACEP), an arm of the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA), accredits TWU's Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology. CCPA: 6-203 Colonnade Rd S, Ottawa ON K2E 7K3, (613) 237-1099 or toll-free 1-877-765-5565.
Script:
Subject: Trinity Western University MA in Counselling Psychology and 2SLGBTQIA+ client care
Dear Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association,
I am writing as a Canadian concerned about the documented institutional environment for 2SLGBTQIA+ students and faculty at Trinity Western University in Langley, BC. Reporting by The Langley Union, Xtra Magazine, CBC News, and Maclean's has established a pattern that includes restrictions on the campus support group One TWU, the closure of the theatre department, the departure of allied faculty, and ongoing safety concerns described by current and former students.
Trinity Western's Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology is accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Counsellor Education Programs (CACEP).
Graduates from this program go on to work as counsellors and psychotherapists across Canada.
Their clients will routinely include 2SLGBTQIA+ youth and adults navigating identity disclosure, family rejection, gender dysphoria, gender-affirming care decisions, internalized homophobia or transphobia, and recovery from religious trauma. The duty of care to these clients is not theoretical.
Counselling failure with this population carries documented and substantial suicide risk.
I would like a clear answer to three questions:
- What standards does CCPA and CACEP apply to evaluate whether an accredited counsellor education program prepares graduates to provide affirming, ethical, and clinically competent care to 2SLGBTQIA+ clients?
- What evidence does CCPA and CACEP require from accredited programs to demonstrate that this preparation is actually taking place, including faculty composition, clinical placements, and curriculum on gender-affirming care?
- Given the documented institutional environment at Trinity Western University, what review has CCPA or CACEP conducted into whether the MA in Counselling Psychology meets your standards on this dimension, and what are the next steps?
I would appreciate a written response.
Sincerely, [Your name]
For athletic bodies (Canada West, U Sports)
Contacts:
Canada West Associate Director of Communications and Marketing Evan Daum: evan.daum@canadawest.org. Managing Director Rocky Olfert: rocky.olfert@canadawest.org.
U Sports Director of Marketing and Communications John Bower: jbower@usports.ca. National Office: 45 Vogell Road, Suite 701, Richmond Hill ON L4B 3P6.
Script:
Subject: Trinity Western University membership and 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusion
Dear [Canada West / U Sports],
I am writing as a supporter of Canadian university sport with concerns about Trinity Western University's membership in your association. Public reporting by The Langley Union, Xtra Magazine, CBC News, and Maclean's has documented a pattern of institutional conduct toward 2SLGBTQIA+ students and faculty at TWU that appears inconsistent with the equity, diversity, and inclusion values that Canadian university athletics publicly espouses.
The concern is not theoretical. In October 2024, transgender Vancouver Island University basketball player Harriette Mackenzie alleged she was verbally berated by the head coach of Columbia Bible College, an evangelical Mennonite school in Abbotsford, BC, and physically targeted by Columbia Bible players during games between the two institutions.
Following an investigation, the Pacific Western Athletic Association banned Columbia Bible College from hosting the 2025 women's basketball provincials and suspended head coach Taylor Claggett.
Columbia Bible competes in PACWEST, not Canada West. But the institutional category, an evangelical Christian post-secondary school in the BC Lower Mainland, is the same one TWU belongs to, and the harm done to queer and trans athletes, and to queer and trans non-athlete students at these institutions, is documented, recent, and ongoing.
I would like a clear answer to three questions:
- What standards do you expect member institutions to uphold with respect to 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusion, on the field and off?
- What review mechanisms exist when those standards are not met?
- Has the documented record at Trinity Western University been raised internally, and if so, with what outcome?
Until I have clarity on these questions, I will not be supporting TWU Spartans events, broadcasts, or related programming.
I would appreciate a written response.
Sincerely, [Your name]
Sources
- Law Society of British Columbia v. Trinity Western University, 2018 SCC 32, Supreme Court of Canada ruling
- "I'm queer at Trinity Western University. What will it take for my university to listen to me?", Carter Sawatzky, Xtra Magazine, February 2023
- "Private Christian university denies request to hold LGBTQ event on campus, organizer says", CBC News, February 2023
- "Trinity Western University drops contentious covenant, but LGBTQ staff still face discrimination", Aline Bouwman, CBC Opinion, August 2018
- "Trinity Western students won't have to sign covenant banning sex outside straight marriage", CBC News, August 2018
- "What it's like to be LGBTQ at a Canadian Christian university", Maclean's, October 2018
- "Sites of Resistance: LGBTQI+ Experiences at Trinity Western University", Heather Shipley, Canadian Journal of Law and Society, April 2020
- "Play revealing stories of 2SLGBTQ+ students at Christian university takes the stage in North Vancouver", North Shore News, March 2025
- "Why do LGBTQ2S+ students go to TWU?", Fraser Valley Current, April 2025
- "White Nationalist Account Followed by US Vice President Identified as Canadian Man", Canadian Anti-Hate Network, March 2025
- "B.C. Bible college accused of mistreating trans player no longer hosting basketball provincials", CBC News, February 2025
- "B.C. women's college basketball championships moved after alleged abuse of transgender player", The Globe and Mail, February 2025
- One TWU, official site
- TWU Student Code of Conduct
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