The use of preferred pronouns has become a contentious issue as the transgender and LGBTQ+ community assert the right to express their individuality. And in one case involving a school teacher who was forced to resign as it violated her religious beliefs to do so, it has become a matter of the First Amendment rights.
The teacher, Vivian Geraghty, is now suing Jackson Memorial Middle School’s principal, the Board of Education, and two district employees.
Geraghty, a Christian, worked at the school in Massillon, Ohio, as an English language arts teacher up until her resignation on Aug. 26. Before her departure, she “taught her class while remaining consistent with her religious practices and scientific understanding concerning human identity, gender, and sex,” states a federal lawsuit filed on Monday.
The practice of announcing your preferred pronouns along with your name in an email or on your name tag is becoming ever more common, especially on college campuses, on social media and in the workplace. This is seen as making those places,“more inclusive of everyone from all genders”. The Binghamton University website explains that, “Like names, pronouns are an important part of how we identify that deserves to be respected. And we recognize that assuming someone’s gender can be hurtful, especially to members of our community who are transgender, genderqueer, or gender expansive.” But the practice also runs counter to religious beliefs that don’t acknowledge gender identity as a continuum, and instead see it only as binary: male/female.
About a week before she resigned, two of Geraghty’s students requested that she use names associated “with their new gender identities rather than their legal names,” the suit states. One of the students also wanted to be addressed by their preferred pronoun. The lawsuit notes that the school had adopted a policy that required teachers to use the preferred pronouns of students.
Because the request went against her religious beliefs, Geraghty met with principal Kacy Carter “in the hope of reaching a solution that would allow her to continue teaching without violating her religious beliefs and constitutional rights,” according to the lawsuit. But Geraghty told Carter that she would not use the students’ preferred pronouns. At a subsequent meeting, Geraghty was told, “she would be required to put her beliefs aside as a public servant” and that her unwillingness to do so would be insubordination. Given no other choice, Geraghty submitted a resignation letter.
She was subsequently escorted out of the building. Attorneys for Geraghty argue in the lawsuit that the school did not explore other possible solutions such as moving Geraghty to another classroom or having her address students by their last names.
The Alliance Defending Freedom, which filed the lawsuit on Geraghty’s behalf, said she should not have been put in a position to choose “between her faith and her job.”
The group’s legal counsel Logan Spena said, “No school official can force a teacher to set her religious beliefs aside in order to keep her job.. the First Amendment prohibits that abuse of power.”
