An Ohio federal court ruled on August 12 that an Ohio school district erred when it forced an English substitute teacher to use the “preferred names and pronouns” of two transgender students. Judge Pamela Barker of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio ruled that the Jackson School Board violated Geraghty's First Amendment rights when it forced her to resign after she refused to use a false name.
Geraghty's “Transgression”
According to court documents, Geraghty told school and district officials that her religion teaches that “there are male and female people, and that using a name or pronoun that contradicts those genders is contrary to my faith.” The school tried to offer Geraghty “workarounds,” such as not using pronouns and only using the student's preferred name (the student's original name would remain on the school roll), but those options didn't sit well with Geraghty. She ultimately resigned that same day.
Some believe the school's suggestion that Geraghty not use pronouns and just use the “new” name to refer to transgender students was a reasonable workaround. But if so, why wasn't the change reflected in the school's register? Why did the official school register continue to refer to students by their “deadnames”?
Judge Barker ruled that the school had essentially “forced Mr Geraghty to use the pupil's preferred name and pronouns” and forced teachers “to say things that were not in[Mr Geraghty's]mind” on issues of political and religious importance.
Geraghty was fired in 2022.
Reaction to the ruling
The ruling was partial, and the case is still ongoing. Both parties had sought summary judgment in the case. Judge Barker ruled against the district's claim that Geraghty failed to follow proper grievance procedures. Judge Barker also denied Geraghty's claim that his firing violated his right to due process.
But Ariel Del Turco of the Family Research Council (FRC) said:
“We are pleased that the Court in this case upheld the teacher's First Amendment rights. Teachers should not be forced to speak in support of an ideological view that contradicts their deeply held religious beliefs. This is exactly what happened when the school attempted to force a Christian teacher to use preferred gender pronouns that did not match a student's biological sex.
She continued:
(Schools) should not be in the business of enforcing ideological uniformity…. Religious freedom has consistently prevailed in the courts, but “it's disheartening to see school districts continue to test it. We need to restore respect for religious freedom and free speech not just in the courts but in the culture.”
The LGBT movement has intentionally sowed discord in schools across the country, and the issue of gender-confused men competing in girls' sports and ruining them is particularly troubling: Some states allow such competition, but others, including Ohio, ban it.
Confusion only arises because LGBT advocates claim so: after all, shouldn't people with XX chromosomes and people with XY chromosomes compete against each other?
“The harmful lies of LGBTQ ideology are causing irreparable harm to many young people today,” said David Closson, director of FRC's Biblical Worldview Center. “We applaud Geraghty for taking a bold stand against destructive ideologies that sow harm and chaos among children in her classrooms.”
LGBT advocates want to present their grievances as some kind of civil rights issue, but their true intention is to create confusion and chaos where there should be no confusion or chaos.
