Virginia Teacher Placed on Leave after Opposing District's Proposed Transgender Policy
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
A Virginia physical education teacher was placed on administrative leave after he disputed his district's transgender policies, the Loudoun (County) Times-Mirror reported Friday.
Byron "Tanner" Cross, a Leesburg Elementary School teacher in Virginia's Loudoun County Public Schools, is on leave after he voiced his opposition to a proposed district rule that would require faculty acknowledge and address students by their preferred gender-identity pronouns "without any substantiating evidence" at a public meeting Tuesday night.
"It's not my intention to hurt anyone, but there are certain truths that we must face when ready. We condemn school policies [that] would damage children, defile the holy image of God," Cross told the board. "I love all of my students, but I will never lie to them regardless of the consequences. I am a teacher, but I serve God first and I will not affirm that a biological boy can be a girl and vice versa because it's against my religion. It's lying to a child, it's abuse to a child, and it's sinning against our God."
The principal at the school where Cross is employed notified parents of the teacher's leave. "I'm contacting you to let you know that one of our physical education teachers, Tanner Cross, is on leave beginning this morning," LES Principal Shawn Lacy wrote in a Thursday email to parents.
The school board policy Cross objected to would conform to state legislation that calls on the state's school boards to adopt "policies that are consistent with model policies developed by the [Virginia] Department of Education" by the beginning of the 2021-22 school year.
Cross substantiated his claim that children will be harmed by the policy by referencing a May 23 CBS News 60 Minutes segment in which 30 transgender students admitted that they plan to reverse medical procedures because they did not receive enough counseling or questions before making their decision to transition.
The Biden administration recently announced that the Department of Health of Human Services (HHS) will start cracking down against any deviations from pro-transgender health-care policy at the state level in compliance with its new non-biological definition of sex. The notice signaled that HHS will pressure if not coerce Republican-dominated state governments to cover gender transition surgeries in their Medicare programs.
The school board's decision to let go of Cross comes after USA Todayrevised an op-ed by a female track athlete about the challenges of competing against transgender girls to omit the word "male," which the publication called "hurtful language."
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Is this a wise use of taxpayer funds?
Is it wise to divert funds from an agency already experiencing difficulties?
I choose to identify as Matthew McConaughey today. Will Medicare pay for my surgeries to look like him?
sounds to me like this dumb ass thumper POS has forgotten what country he lives in...
Sounds like he knows he lives in a country with religious freedom in it, along with some very intolerant fools.
So....should biological males be allowed to compete with females?
If so, why so?
This is not the Loony Left States of America
I think he was only interested in getting the old usual "thumper" digs in.
My guess is he doesn't even know what that is. Probably something he heard from someone, then simply parroted it.
It is managed to get into almost any conversation.
Seems quite fearful of believers in God.
not at all. I want them to meet their teabag god ASAP.
oh, did I somehow create the impression that I was a trumpster moron? sorry, no.
Answer seems obvious.
yes, as you have made abundantly clear many times.
I know how tough you are on the internet and all the times you have advocated for death to people who believe in God.
Lmao 👍
Sauce for the goose, sauce for the gander!
LMAO!
Well, maybe not a TRUMPSTER moron, but...........
Damn...you beat me to it...
But I still had to...just because.
I understand perfectly.
Some things just need to be stated!
And repeated.
This is a losing issue for the dumb Dems. Most rational Americans aren't buying the bullshit they're selling
Right, everyone should conform to what the right wing sees as normal, just like nazi Germany.
Get that weak Nazi shit out of here.
a personality cult with loyalty tests and purges. most of them are already there.
ass-licking trumpsters are free to leave america whenever they want...
When people refer to Nazism in such a child-like way, my comment is appropriate, and if you don't like it, you can leave, too!
Tell you what...I understand how "brave" you are on here. We see it every day.
I am not a "trumpster", but I supported President Trump because of the positive things he did for the country.
I served 20 years of my adult life, only retiring 16 years ago. This veteran has no intention of leaving this great country.
Maybe those that failed to serve, failed to protect, then constantly degrade those that have different thoughts then them, including death wishing them, need to get the fuck out.
Here's a hint..
We won't miss you.
there's nothing more disgusting than veterans whose silence tacitly supports a treasonous leader of an attempted insurrection and his brain dead sycophants in their quest to further handicap our constitution. they have failed in their primary duty of defending it and deserve to lose every benefit they've earned, and then some.
Sure there is.
If conforming to district policies is an issue then they should get into a different line of work. Now as for the policy itself... eh, I don’t how I feel about all of this.
So you don't know if you think it is a wise use of taxpayer funds to fund transgender surgeries and treatments or not?
No to the taxpayer funds, that shit is cosmetic and should be paid for out of pocket.
Perhaps the district policies are wrongheaded and go against science, nature, and common sense
Is he not allowed a voice to protest this left wing idiocy?
I'm ok with the district suspending him.
I am not ok with their policies.
He can protest all he likes but the policy is the policy and as an employee he is expected to adhere to it, full stop. If he cannot do that then he needs to move on.
So employees who advocate for any changes to policy should be suspended?
If they can’t or won’t adhere to then yes. I don’t know what is so unclear about my position.
Just wondering if you apply that standard evenly for all businesses and government.
Say a company has a sick-leave policy. Let's say the union wants that policy to change. Should the workers supporting the union be suspended for going against company policy?
If your answer is yes, then that's great.
If no, then it shows hypocrisy.
If they are refusing to adhere to the policy then they should be suspended. If they adhere to the policy but still advocate for changes then no.
Kinda like how I can disagree with a law, advocate that it be changed but not break it and thus not be arrested. Unless I actually break the law then an arrest is not warranted.
Seriously, what is confusing you? If you refuse to adhere to an employer’s policy (assuming it is not illegal) then I have no problem with a suspension.
Byron "Tanner" Cross, a Leesburg Elementary School teacher in Virginia's Loudoun County Public Schools, is on leave after he voiced his opposition to a proposed district rule that would require faculty acknowledge and address students by their preferred gender-identity pronouns "without any substantiating evidence" at a public meeting Tuesday night.
Not a word in the article that he has in fact refused to follow the misguided rule
Whatever happened to freedom of speech and opinion?
I believe that thought never crossed his mind in his haste to assure me that I didn't "understand".
boot that useless fucking thumper out of the public school system.
Yeah, that will teach the kids what happens when they dare question authority!
In the gulag with you if you disagree with the state and have the temerity to say it aloud.
it will teach them the meaning of secular and separation of church and state.
No, it will teach them that progressives will try to shut you up if you don't agree with them.
Sounds like he is refusing right there. But maybe the phrase “I will not” means something different now.
No, you seemed to not understand because you kept trying to get me to clarify my perfectly clear position.
I don't care what it "seemed" like to you.
Cool. But yeah I shouldn’t have left any room for doubt, you were definitely confused. I just didn’t fully account for who I was interacting with for a moment and greatly overestimated your mental faculties.
Your infantile accusations mean nothing to me.
Say what you mean and mean what you say.
Always do.
I do know how I feel about this. Who made the decision to teach our kids this crap? Were there public meetings for parents to have their input? Who said it was the state's job to decide what morality would be taught to our kids?
I'll tell you. People with an agenda in pushing a particular narrative. And what we're seeing is the ruthless elimination of anyone who gets in the way. It's the "Your kids are going to swallow this crap whether anyone likes it or not because we say so" that is pissing me off. Who the hell gave them that power? They are no longer teaching our kids what they need to be successful in life. Schools are now just social engineering centers.
I remember when kids were being taught that they could be anything they wanted--even President.
Now I guess they are being taught they can be any sex they want, biology notwithstanding.
Don’t know the answer to any of that, I wasn’t involved and really don’t care enough to look into it.
Hehe, well that pretty much describes every person/activist group on earth. Really I don’t see it as being that big a deal, certainly nothing to get super worked up over or possibly lose your job over. Is the trans thing weird, sure, but if someone wants to identify as a man or woman and wants me to call them he or she (as long as they look like a he or she) and don’t change their minds every other day, then whatever.
That argument can always be made, so meh.
Someone explain how this is against religion. You’re not lying to a child. You’re not telling a biological male that he is a biological female. You are addressing them in the way that they want to be addressed. That’s just good manners.
Cuz some people just have to pitch a fit about something.
I mean I get why some people are uncomfortable with the whole thing. One of these days, maybe we’ll get over it as a society. But claiming this is somehow a religious objection strikes me as bogus. We see more and more people these days claiming that every opinion they have is somehow rooted in the Bible. It’s just not that comprehensive.
Oh yeah, I am not discounting their feelings. I mean it is definitely odd and I don’t really know I feel about the whole thing, but it doesn’t really effect me so whatever I guess. But it is just dumb to try to use religion as an excuse for not being comfortable with trans people or opposing societal acceptance of them.
That’s them, they need to own their feelings and opinions and not try to hide behind someone or something else.
True. But then that's the problem with the bible...it's full of ambiguity, you can take almost any passage and interpret it 3 different ways. That's by design of course.
I see that more as a problem with people than a problem with the Bible. They do the same thing with the law.
Actually, it is that comprehensive. There isn't supposed to be a God part of our life and a secular part. It's all God, for some of us. The religious objection is being forced to push a narrative that has no business in school in the first place. It isn't the public school's job to tell kids being gay, trans or anything else is okay or not okay. That's the job of parents. Instead, the school is setting some children against their parents with conflicting messages, putting children in the middle, which isn't fair in the least. They are using children as pawns against those with religious objections. So, not so bogus.
The Bible does not comment on every possible aspect of life. I think it’s much smarter to understand the more general guidelines there. For example, love God; love each other, etc. The Bible is an anthology of writings, none of which were intended to be an exhaustive treatise on the complexities of human psychology or gender identity.
The school is there to educate kids on the approved curriculum. It isn’t there to tell them how to live their lives. Whether it is school or adult professional life, when you meet a person and they tell you they want to be addressed in a certain way, it strikes me as simple good manners to oblige them. I see a much stronger encouragement of love, patience, grace, and non-judgment throughout scripture than I see any kind of mandate to “fix” people who say they are gender-fluid.
If a biological boy wants to wear a dress and be called Susan, what does anyone else care? We can talk about what you think the truth is, but nobody in school sweats that on any other topic - or at least they shouldn’t be sweating it. If the same boy is a Muslim, are you going to explain to him that Muhammad was just a warlord and not a prophet? If he thinks Vegan is the only way to live, are you going to harass him about all the vital nutrition he is missing out on by skipping meat? The list of potential disagreements is endless.
You’ll always be subject to “conflicting messages” from school. Just wait until college! I don’t worry that much about what the school can do in that regard. I have a much stronger relationship with my kids than any school could ever hope to have.
Using God to justify discriminating against people. It's weird that these idiots follow a god that just by sheer coincidence, hates the exact same people they do. These are the same people that insist that God created humans, then claim that God hates transgender people? Um.... Right..
While I do not agree with letting transgender people compete with the opposite biological sex because you cannot change the biology, I do think that it's a free country and people should be allowed to be who they want to be.
What next? Cancel Halloween because people dress up as something they aren't?
Maybe the Dr. should give Kim Davis a call, she can explain exactly how this works.
Except that he didn't say anything of the sort, and as far as I can see, neither has anyone else.
project much?
Agreed, but what they are called has nothing to do with not allowing them to be who they think they are.
I wonder how many transgender elementary students there are in Loudoun County?
It depends on how successful some twisted, freak, adults are at convincing little boys they are little girls and vice versa.
“The Biden administration recently announced that the Department of Health of Human Services (HHS) will start cracking down on any deviations from pro-transgender health-care policy at the state level in compliance with its new non-biological definition of sex. The notice signaled that HHS will pressure if not coerce Republican-dominated state governments to cover gender transition surgeries in their Medicare programs.”
“Cracking down,” “coerce”? What exactly does that mean? It’s total bs these idiots are using our taxpayer money to fund abortions overseas and now this? I guess we’ll just have to wait for this extremely transparent administration (yeah right) to play their hand to see what they have in store. If freak boy wants to become a fake girl he should pay for it, not us.