Ohio teacher forced to resign claiming using students’ preferred pronouns violated her religion 

A former Ohio high school teacher said she was forced to resign after telling the principal she would not address students by their preferred pronouns because of her religious beliefs.

Vivian Geraghty, 24, is now involved in a lawsuit against the principal of Jackson Memorial High School, the Board of Education and two school district employees.

Geraghty, who is Christian, worked at the school in Massillon, Ohio, teaching art until her abrupt resignation on August 26.

The school had adopted a policy that said its teachers would comply with the wishes of the students regarding the names and pronouns they want to be called.

A federal lawsuit filed last week states that prior to her resignation, she “taught her class while remaining consistent with her religious practices and her scientific understanding of human identity, gender and sex.”

In early August, two of Geraghty’s students asked her to start using names that were consistent “with their new gender identities rather than their legal names.”

One of the students, according to the lawsuit, also wanted to be approached with new ‘preferred’ pronouns. The lawsuit also noted that the school had a policy that required teachers to use student-requested pronouns.

The policy mocked Geraghty’s religious beliefs, leading her to meet with Principal Kacy Carter “in the hope of reaching a solution that would allow her to continue teaching without violating her religious beliefs and constitutional rights.”

Ohio principal Kacy Carter, who allegedly told Geraghty that she would have to change her religious beliefs or resign.

After her conversation with Carter, Geraghty was summoned to a separate meeting with the principal and district employee Monica Myers.

During the second meeting, Geraghty was told that “she would be required to set aside her beliefs as a public servant” and that any unwillingness to do so would be construed as insubordination, according to the lawsuit.

When the teacher stood her ground, she was sent back to her classroom only to be ushered out minutes later and ordered to either change her mind or resign her position.

Feeling that he had no other choice, he chose to resign and submitted a letter of resignation. She then she was escorted out of the building.

Alliance Defending Freedom has taken up Geraghty’s case, arguing that “no school official can force a teacher to give up her religious beliefs in order to keep her job.”

Lawyers for Alliance Defending Freedom, which took up Geraghty’s case, said the school did not consider any possibilities that would accommodate Geraghty and her students, such as moving her to a different classroom or having her call students by their names. surnames.

The lawsuit alleges that the school’s policy is applied unevenly since Kacy, for example, is able to avoid the use of pronouns entirely in her position.

The ADF also argued that Geraghty should not have been placed in a position where she was required to choose ‘between her faith and her work’.

Logan Spena, an attorney for ADF, wrote: “No school official can force a teacher to give up her religious beliefs in order to keep her job.”

The First Amendment prohibits such abuse of power.

Religious Christians generally have an unsympathetic view of the transgender movement in the US, according to Focus on familyparents and other community leaders, including teachers, should refrain from ‘accepting’ the ‘gender struggle’ some children may experience without ‘considering the more important responsibility of shepherding their eternal souls’.

“Putting your acceptance of your children’s preferences and behavior above your relationship with God doesn’t really help them,” the site says.