An Ohio school district forced a Christian teacher to use a student’s “preferred pronoun” as he transitioned, a federal court has said. The verdict was given this month.
In 2022, middle school English teacher Vivian Geraghty resigned from her job in the Jackson Area School District after the district required her to use the names and “preferred pronouns” of transgender students. Geraghty, an Apostolic Pentecostal, subsequently filed a lawsuit against the district, alleging that her First Amendment rights were violated. Specifically, Geraghty said that using “preferred pronouns” would force her to embrace the concept of gender identity, which goes against her religious belief that God created two immutable sexes: male and female.
“Ms. Geraghty’s forced statements were not in accordance with her regular duties,” District Judge Pamela Barker wrote in her Aug. 12 order. Barker further noted that the district “forced Ms. Geraghty to use students’ preferred names and pronouns,” allowing her to “tread into issues of public concern.”
“Defendants have forced Geraghty to use the student’s preferred name and pronouns. [Geraghty] “They were coerced into making statements on matters of political and religious importance that they did not believe. The statements at issue were therefore made under duress,” Judge Barker wrote in his Aug. 12 order.
A federal court in Ohio has upheld a teacher’s First Amendment claim to use preferred pronouns, a ruling consistent with other federal court decisions on similar claims.
Schools cannot force teachers, administrators, or students to use “preferred pronouns.” pic.twitter.com/yDvlY4EbA0
— Sarah Parshall Perry (@SarahPPerry) August 21, 2024
Barker wrote that the district “attempts to reduce the mandatory speech at issue to a non-ideological pastoral mandate, but such a romanticized view of language ignores the reality that titles and pronouns convey a message.”
“For Ms Geraghty, using a student’s preferred name and pronouns sent a message of affirmation of the student’s identity that was contrary to her religious beliefs, biology and understanding of basic human function,” Barker wrote.For the school, using students’ preferred names and pronouns sent a message of support to them. And, most importantly, for students, using their preferred name and pronouns sends the message that the speaker respects their gender identity.”
She continued:
So the question is not whether using preferred names and pronouns was part of Geraghty’s regular job duties, but whether communicating (or refusing to communicate) the message that those names and pronouns conveyed was part of her regular job duties. It was not. Geraghty was a middle school English teacher. Her job was to teach English according to appropriate state standards. It was not her job to teach anything regarding LGBTQ issues.
However, this incident is not over yet.
Judge Barker ordered the case to go to a jury so that other details can be resolved at trial. At issue is a dispute between Geraghty and the District over whether Geraghty was forced to resign, and “diametrically opposed” expert opinions submitted by each side about the effectiveness of supporting a minor’s self-declared gender identity. Judge Barker wrote:
[The order] The Court reserves its determination of whether the Pickering balancing test and strict scrutiny favor the Plaintiffs or Defendants until a jury issues a factual determination regarding the interests at stake. Moreover, the Court concludes that there are genuine disputes of material fact as to whether Geraghty resigned involuntarily and, if she resigned, whether her protective actions, if any, caused her to resign. Finally, the Court grants Defendants’ motion for summary judgment on Geraghty’s due process claims, but denies its request to dismiss Geraghty’s official conduct claims against the individual Defendants.
The district court is the most recent of many to rule on the impact of government gender identity policies on the First Amendment.
This week, the Supreme Court Blocked the Biden-Harris administration’s proposed changes to federal discrimination laws in favor of transgender people. The revised rules: A school’s refusal to accept a young person’s transgender identity is considered an illegal violation of Title IX of the Sex Discrimination Act of 1972. The rule states: A private law firm plans to sue and penalize schools that refuse to allow teachers and students to redefine boys as girls after they declare they are transgender.
This incident Geraghty v. Jackson Regional School DistrictU.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, No. 5:22-cv-2237.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X. Follow.
