Judge reinstates teacher suspended for transgender remark
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — A judge on Tuesday ordered a northern Virginia school system to reinstate a suspended gym teacher who spoke out at a school board meeting against a proposal requiring that transgender students be addressed by their preferred pronouns.
Loudoun County Circuit Court Judge James Plowman ruled that teacher Tanner Cross was exercising his right to free speech when he told the board he could not abide by the proposal based on his religious beliefs. His order requires Cross' immediate reinstatement until a full trial can be held.
Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal group, sued the county school board last week and filed for an emergency injunction on behalf of Cross, a teacher at Leesburg Elementary.
Cross was suspended after he said at a May 25 school board meeting that he could not abide by proposed rules that would require teachers to address transgender students by their chosen gender.
During the hearing, Cross said "I'm 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 is against my religion. It's lying to a child. It's abuse to a child."
The school board is considering the new regulations in conjunction with a state mandate requiring all school systems to update their policies on transgender students. The model regulations circulated by the state include a requirement that students be addressed by their preferred pronouns.
Stacy Haney, a lawyer representing the school system, said the state law gives the school board no leeway on implementing the policy and existing school board regulations already prohibit discrimination based on gender identity, which Haney said includes referring to transgender children by their preferred pronoun.
As a result, Haney said, Cross was articulating a defiance to follow existing school policies.
In addition, the school system argued Cross was not suspended for expressing his beliefs, but because his remarks caused a disruption at the school. Five parents contacted the principal after the school board meeting requesting their children have no interaction with Cross.
Cross' lawyer, Tyson Langhofer, said at a hearing Friday that complaints from a small number of parents are insufficient to show the level of disruption that would justify punishing a teacher for exercising his free speech rights.
Allowing teachers to be punished for speaking out on an issue of public debate "would cast a pall of orthodoxy over teachers, not just in the classroom, but everywhere," Langhofer said. "The school is essentially asking for compelled silence."
Plowman, a Republican who served as the county's top prosecutor before he became a judge, agreed that the parents' complaints fell far short of the disruption that would justify his suspension.
The school system declined comment Tuesday on the ruling.
The controversy has crept into Virginia politics. Glenn Youngkin, the Republican nominee for governor in this year's election, said he supports Cross. In a June 1 tweet, Youngkin called on the school board to reinstate Cross "because they have absolutely ignored his constitutional rights."
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It's too bad we need judges to deliver an obvious victory for the free speech we are all entitled to.
Too bad people can't be respectful and companionate and need to fall back on 'free speech' arguments for being a total douchecanoe. Especially when it comes to speaking to children.
Not sure what you mean by that but if you mean bowing to some 6th grade twit who has learned how to game the system by screaming "he called me a boy" then that is tough shit. They are children and i don't know how old you are but how many times did you talk back to your parents when you were younger as though you were an equal?
And how is he a douchecanoe? Because he doesn't give a damn about what some "Kid' wants?
The essence of being a bad teacher.
A good teacher would know that young children don't suddenly want to change their gender in 2021. Somebody had to put that idea in their heads.
Hum....who could that be?
should have said "wants to be called". When you're a kid, you do all you can to take the control away from authority. This is but one more way to do it.
Wow. You really think a kid just all the sudden decides? You have no idea about these kids.
Now some conspiracy that they are being brainwashed to want a different gender.
Would that have worked for you Vic?
Why do you act like this is some rebellious teenagers. That is not the case.
My my how easy it would be just to avoid certain pronouns.
But no, my god I have to throw my religious beliefs down everyone's throat.
Do you?.......................
They just wouldn't allow it. Listening to these people I can think, it is no wonder the suicide rate for these kids is high.
How the FUCK do you know he's gaming the system? And why would anyone want to be signaled out for the harassment trans people (like you always dish out here) always get if it wasn't genuine?
No I'm not, you are....
Great adult retort...
I don't think a young child ever thinks of that on his/her own. It takes an ideologue to ruin a life.
Why? Unnecessary.
Listen pal, you came across as the expert on "these kids" so enlighten the rest of us with what you know or just drop it and admit yours is all feelings.
How the FUCK do you know he isn't? You know him?
Gonna have to prove that one my friend and I believe you were looking for "singled".
That "shoving it down other's throats" thing works two ways. I don't give a damn what a kid want to identify as but to use it as an attention tool is bullshit. Just like a couple of you say about the teacher and his religion. Live and fucking let live.
And according to the bigots commenting here - The counseling, drug therapy and bigotry they have to put up with is all to game some system... Once again Christians showing no Christ like compassion only judgement (something Christ told his followers not to do).
Trans have to go through months and years of counseling and drug therapy AND still put up with people like you that claim it's all about getting attention or gaming a system. There are much, much easier ways to get attention.
I never came across as an expert nor did I claim I was. You have no logical argument so you attack what others say.
Them acting like a child just wakes up one day and decides to be another gender is delusion.
They show that they don't give a rats ass about the kids. Only what they think they should be. Then have the nerve to say others are trying to tell them how to live.
Once again my friend, you made the statement that "we" have no idea about these kids. Sorry if I misunderstood that YOU do.
When some of you say a kid can wake up one day and decide to change gender, like some instantaneous life altering decision, I stick by my statement.
I didn't say it was all about gaming the system. But if, big IF, they are or have been going through drug and mentality treatments for an extended period, that is a horse of a different color. I'm talking about someone who just decides he's a girl, lets his hair grow, dresses effeminately, all of a sudden for long lacking attention from parents, peers, and others then THAT is bullshit...........throw in they can't compete in boys sports so they decide to become a girl so they can win. What is the point. Everyone knows and therefore it means nothing.
Who said that? I guess I missed it.
You basically just did in your response to EG.
S'cuse me but you made the claim prior to my response to eg. And now where in said response did I say anyone got up one morning and decided. i am sure there is a LOT of thought involved for anyone especially those of school age. Kids are cruel and it has to be taken into consideration with one hell of a great base of friends who won't judge.
Where is the example of someone doing this? What would be gained?
Because this is a very serious matter for students and their families, and it’s not his place to interfere with how they are dealing with it. If he has concerns about the good faith of the student, he can have a conversation with parents, administrators, and counselors.
I know one thing for sure. It’s not up to the PE teacher. It’s not his business. He should be respectful of whatever the family is trying to do help their child, and not publicly judge it or interfere with it.
A good teacher shouldn’t be concerning himself with it. He should just be teaching the curriculum he was hired to teach, not combatting family or students’ life decisions that are none of his business.
Do I have to let some confused kids push their "preferred pronoun's" down my throat, if I was a teacher
A teacher doesn't get to decide what to call my kid.
Yep. Imagine if the student got to decide what to call the teacher.
What a load of shit. The 'teacher' was not speaking out on some public debate. He was demanding that he can do things his way and even stating he puts his 'God" above the students and classroom.
The nut job needs to be shunned.
As a First Amendment issue, I agree a teacher should not lose their position (he wasn’t fired, btw) just for speaking on a matter of public concern. Having heard his remarks, I would say that arguably that is all he did. However, I think the board was reasonably concerned and if he follows through on his comments such that he puts himself in conflict with a student and violates the state rules, he should be fired.
As with all things in the schools, he has a right to his own thoughts and opinions until he starts pushing them on the students in violation of the rules.
The thing he has done, though, is to make his intolerance and lack of grace plain to all. Parents are now justified in being afraid of him being around their kids.
They want everyone to join in and cater to their mental illness.