ACLU Targets Loudoun County Teachers’ Speech, Wants Them Forced To Use ‘Gender-Affirming’ Pronouns

Last week, the American Civil Liberties Union, which was founded on the principle of defending Americans’ civil liberties, filed an amicus brief arguing against Loudoun County Circuit Court teachers who have refused to use “gender-affirming” pronouns. The ACLU of Virginia stated, “While the teachers may disagree with the policy, they do not have the right to violate it in their capacity as K-12 teachers in the Loudoun County school system.”

In August, the Virginia Supreme Court issued an order affirming “a lower court’s decision to temporarily reinstate Leesburg Elementary School physical education teacher Tanner Cross after Loudoun County Public Schools suspended him for voicing objections to a proposed policy during the public comment period of a school board meeting.

The lower court ruled that the school district’s actions were likely unconstitutional, and the state high court agreed,” the Alliance Defending Freedom, which represents Cross, reported, adding, “The school board eventually passed a version of the proposed policy discussed at the May 25 school board meeting, which resulted in Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys recently asking the trial court to allow them to amend the lawsuit to challenge that policy on behalf of three faculty members, now including Loudoun County High School history teacher Monica Gill and Smart’s Mill Middle School English teacher Kim Wright. … The new policy forces all of the school district’s students and staff to refer to ‘gender-expansive or transgender’ students using whatever gender pronoun is chosen by the student, regardless of whether the pronoun is consistent with the student’s biological sex.”

The ACLU, on behalf of ACLU Virginia, ACLU, Equality Virginia, Equality Loudoun, Side By Side, and He She Ze and We filed a brief challenging the emergency petition and preliminary injunction request filed by the Alliance Defending Freedom on behalf of the three teachers.

BREAKING: Three teachers in Loudoun county are going to court simply because they don’t want to use trans & nonbinary students’ pronouns. 👀

We and partners filed an amicus brief to tell the court: Refusing to use a student’s pronouns because of who they are is discrimination. pic.twitter.com/8dAsnXMfAh

— ACLU of Virginia (@ACLUVA) October 14, 2021

The ACLU of Virginia stated, “While the teachers may disagree with the policy, they do not have the right to violate it in their capacity as K-12 teachers in the Loudoun County school system. The policy protects trans and gender-expansive students from discrimination and necessitates equal treatment of all students in Loudoun County. We know that