On Tuesday, a judge reinstated an elementary school teacher from Loudoun County, Virginia who was placed on administrative leave in May for refusing to validate transgender identity in students.
According to an announcement by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), Byron “Tanner” Cross, a physical education teacher at Leesburg Elementary School, received a temporary injunction from Judge James Plowman in his action against Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS). Also, ADF defended Tanner with his case.
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) posted this on Twitter:
“BREAKING: Tanner Cross, a Virginia elementary school teacher and ADF client who was suspended for raising concerns to the board about a proposed gender policy, has won a temporary injunction and the judge has ordered his reinstatement, a massive victory for freedom of speech.”
BREAKING: Tanner Cross, a Virginia elementary school teacher and ADF client who was suspended for raising concerns to the board about a proposed gender policy, has won a temporary injunction and the judge has ordered his reinstatement.
A massive victory for freedom of speech.
— Alliance Defending Freedom (@AllianceDefends) June 8, 2021
Plowman found the “school system’s suspension was unconstitutional” and its treatment of the case was “vindictive,” according to local WTOP reporter Neal Augenstein. The school claimed that Cross was suspended not because of his beliefs, but because of the “interruption” he supposedly caused, but Plowman stated there was “simply no proof” that any disruption to school operations occurred.
BREAKING: Loudoun County judge rules @LCPSOfficial must reinstate suspended teacher Byron Tanner Cross, who spoke against proposed gender pronoun policy at school board meeting. Judge calls school system’s suspension unconstitutional and its handling of situation “vindictive.”
— Neal Augenstein (@AugensteinWTOP) June 8, 2021
BREAKING: Loudoun County judge rules @LCPSOfficial must reinstate suspended teacher Byron Tanner Cross, who spoke against proposed gender pronoun policy at school board meeting. Judge calls school system’s suspension unconstitutional and its handling of situation “vindictive.”
— Neal Augenstein (@AugensteinWTOP) June 8, 2021
BREAKING: Loudoun County judge rules @LCPSOfficial must reinstate suspended teacher Byron Tanner Cross, who spoke against proposed gender pronoun policy at school board meeting. Judge calls school system’s suspension unconstitutional and its handling of situation “vindictive.”
— Neal Augenstein (@AugensteinWTOP) June 8, 2021
After making global headlines for his comments to the school board over the board’s planned policy affecting children’s gender identity, Cross hired ADF’s legal counsel. Cross said that he would not comply with any school district policy that requires LCPS employees to use preferred pronouns and “allow gender-expansive and transgender kids to engage in such activities in a manner consistent with the student’s gender identity,” citing his Christian religion.
“I love all of my students but I will never lie to them regardless of the consequences. 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’s against my religion, it’s lying to a child, it’s abuse to a child, and it’s sinning against our God,” Cross stated in part.
Cross was placed on leave from Leesburg Elementary School two days after his remarks, according to an email acquired by Fox News via the group Parents Against Critical Theory. He sued the school system shortly after and was represented by ADF Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer.
“Public schools have no business compelling teachers to express ideological beliefs that they don’t hold, nor do they have the right to suspend someone simply for respectfully providing their opinion at a public meeting,” Langhofer said. “The school district favors a certain set of beliefs on a hotly contested issue, and it wants to force Tanner to cry uncle and endorse them as well. That’s neither legal nor constitutional, and neither was the school’s move to place Tanner on leave.”
In a press statement, ADF went on to say more.
The bottom line is that the school district can’t use teachers as a mouthpiece to promote a political agenda that violates their beliefs. But that is exactly what it is trying to do. And when Tanner used his constitutional right to speak up against the policy, officials punished him, propping him up as an example and sending the message that teachers must toe the ideological line or face the consequences.
It must stop.
The debate over the school’s policy is about much more than pronouns. It’s about scientific truth. It’s whether the government can force an individual to endorse an ideology that conflicts with his beliefs.
And Tanner’s case is about something even more important: it’s about whether we have the right to voice dissenting opinions to our elected officials at all. Not everyone will agree with Tanner about what the school’s policy should be. But, in a free society, everyone must have the right to make their case to their elected officials about what the policy should be.
There’s a lot at stake.
Sources: dailywire.com, legalinsurrection.com, dailywire.com (2), adfmedia.org, adflegaol.org
