Virginia teachers cannot be forced to bow to ‘radical’ trans policy

Three teachers in the US state of Virginia have been granted exemption from using gender-confused children’s ‘preferred pronouns’.

The Harrisonburg City Public School Board reached a settlement with Deborah Figliola, Kristine Marsh, and Laura Nelson, after they warned that the school’s pro-transgender policy violated their beliefs by forcing them to use opposite-sex pronouns for children who request it, and concealing this from parents..

The school district has now admitted that it “does not support hiding or withholding information from parents”, and pledged to inform other staff members of the religious exemptions.

‘True to our faith’

Figliola explained: “We could not idly stand by while the schools’ administration enforced a policy with a radical, one-size-fits-all approach to students struggling with their gender, and that allowed parents to be pushed out of the picture.

“We’re thrilled for this legal victory that allows religious educators in the Harrisonburg school district to do the job we love, in a manner true to our faith.”

This summer, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry signed The Given Name Act, which states: “a school employee shall not be required to refer to any person by certain pronouns if contrary to the employee’s religious or moral convictions”.

It also includes exemptions from disciplinary action for employees and students “declining to address a person with a name other than his legal name or a derivative thereof or pronoun inconsistent with his sex” and “declining to identify their own pronouns”.