Reinstate teacher, judge tells board

FALLS CHURCH, Va. — 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 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 board meeting that he could not abide by proposed rules that would require teachers to address transgender students by their chosen gender.

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 board regulations already prohibit discrimination based on gender identity, which Haney said includes referring to transgender children by their preferred pronoun.