Transgender Policy Dispute: Virginia Supreme Court Upholds Order To Reinstate Suspended Teacher

The Virginia Supreme Court has upheld an order to reinstate a Christian teacher in his attempt to stay employed at his school after he was suspended for speaking out against a proposed LGBT policy.

The state high court upheld the lower court decision that had ordered Loudoun County Public Schools to reinstate Leesburg Elementary School physical education teacher Tanner Cross, who had attended a May school board meeting and spoke out against the proposal, saying it would damage children.

The proposal requires staff to use the name and pronouns that a student prefers, even if it differs from their birth certificate and biological sex.

It also allows students to use restrooms and locker rooms and play on sports teams that match their gender identity.

The Virginia Supreme Court in a 14-page decision, ruled “We believe Cross has a strong claim to the view that his public dissent implicates ‘fundamental societal values’ deeply embedded in our Constitutional Republic.”

The state high court said Cross was opposing a policy that might burden his freedoms of expression and religion by requiring him to speak and interact with students in a way that affirms gender transition, a concept he rejects for secular and spiritual reasons.

The high court ruled that “Under such circumstances, Cross’ interest in making his public comments was compelling”.

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which is representing Cross, asserted that the school violated his religious liberty.

Cross was suspended after telling the board meeting in May, “I’m a teacher, but I serve God first. And I will not affirm that a biological boy can be a girl and vice versa because it is against my religion. It’s lying to a child. It’s abuse to a child.”

ADF senior counsel Tyson Langhofer, director of the ADF Center for Academic Freedom while applauding the court’s ruling, said “Teachers shouldn’t be forced to promote ideologies that are harmful to their students and that they believe are false, nor should they be silenced for commenting at a public meeting.”

“The lower court’s decision was a well-reasoned application of the facts to clearly established law, as the Virginia Supreme Court found. … Public employees cannot be forced to contradict their core beliefs just to keep a job.”

In a related development, Two Virginia public school teachers are suing their school district over a new transgender policy that requires employees to use the chosen pronouns and names of students who identify as transgender.

The teachers argue that children should not be encouraged to “undertake social or medical transition” because of their inability to assess long-term consequences of such treatments as puberty blockers, hormone replacement therapy and sex-reassignment surgery.

The complaint says “Administering treatment for gender dysphoria in lieu of diagnosis and treatment of other mental health conditions is harmful to children with such conditions, especially if the child is in the statistical majority of cases where the gender dysphoria will desist.”

The two teachers are Loudoun County High School history teacher Monica Gill and Smart’s Mill Middle School English teacher Kim Wright.