Court rules in favor of Christian teacher who was forced to use trans pronouns

(The Daily Signal) – A federal court ruled last week that an Ohio school district violated the First Amendment rights of a Christian teacher, in what experts are calling a victory for free speech and religious freedom.

Vivian Geraghty, who was hired as a full-time English teacher at the end of the 2021 school year, resigned from her position in 2022 after being asked to use a student’s “preferred pronouns.” In her lawsuit, she argued that using pronouns that did not reflect the child’s biological sex “would force her to embrace the concept of gender identity contrary to her religious belief that God created two immutable genders, male and female.”

According to District Judge Pamela Barker, the Jackson Local School District forced Geraghty to use students’ preferred names and pronouns, forcing the teacher “to say things that were not on her mind on a politically and religiously significant issue.”

Sarah Parshall Perry, senior legal scholar at the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at the Heritage Foundation, published to X that the court’s decision was “good news for religious freedom.”

“Schools cannot force teachers, administrators or students to use ‘preferred pronouns’ if doing so would conflict with their religious or other beliefs,” she added. “Gender identity provides a false basis for jurisprudence. More victories like this are sure to follow.”

Thomas Jipping, also from the Heritage Foundation, added: noticed that this is “further proof that… these gender policies are NOT related to the curriculum or administration, where schools are given respect. These are ideological policies that schools want to impose on children and families.”

Arielle Del Turco, director of the Family Research Council’s Center for Religious Liberty, told The Washington Stand, “It’s good to see the court uphold this teacher’s First Amendment rights in this case.” Ultimately, “teachers should not be forced to speak in favor of an ideological perspective that contradicts their deeply held religious beliefs. That’s exactly what the school did by attempting to force a Christian teacher to use preferred gender pronouns that did not correspond to the students’ biological sex.”

Schools are for learning, Del Turco argued, so “they should stay out of enforcing ideological conformity.” Fortunately, she added, “religious freedom has won time and time again in the courts.” But “it’s disheartening to see school districts continue to put this to the test. We need to restore respect for religious freedom and freedom of expression in the culture, not just in the courts.”

David Closson, director of the Family Research Council’s Center for Biblical Worldview, analyzed the situation Geraghty found herself in from a biblical perspective. “The vicious lie of LGBTQ ideology is causing irreparable harm to many young people today,” he said. “I commend Geraghty for her courageous stand against an ideology that is destructive and responsible for causing harm and confusion in children’s classrooms.”

Since this is not the first case of this kind and probably will not be the last, Closson stressed the importance of analyzing the case from a biblical perspective in order to be better prepared if it occurs again.

The fact is, he noted, “God created male and female, and the idea that someone can change their gender is not only scientifically absurd, but has no basis in the Bible or Christian theology.” And while “it is never easy to stand up for the truth, the consequences of not standing up for it could potentially cost many lives in the next generation.” For this reason, he argued, Christians must pray fervently.

As the new school year begins, “Christians everywhere should pray for teachers, and especially for believers who serve in the classroom” – especially believers who teach in public or non-Christian schools. For them, Closson said, “the pressure to conform to gender ideology is stronger today than ever before.” And so “we must pray that teachers have the courage to stand by their convictions.” Not only so that “their own civil rights will be protected by school administrators, but also so that they can be “light and salt in the environment in which the Lord has placed them.”

Closson stressed that it is not only the teachers who need to be prayed for, but also the students. “We must remember that between kindergarten and 12th grade, a student spends 16,000 hours in a formal classroom.” This means that believers “must pray for Christian students who endure thousands of hours of instruction that often undermine a biblical worldview,” he said.

Let us pray, Closson concluded, “that they will be able to distinguish truth from lies and stand up for the Word of God when everything around them encourages them to embrace unbiblical ideologies and worldviews.”