When two students requested to be called by new names and pronouns to reflect their new gender identities, school officials instructed teachers to comply. The school principal and a school district official told Geraghty that "she would be required to put her beliefs aside as a public servant" and that refusing to endorse students' social gender transitions would "not work in a district like Jackson." When Geraghty explained that her Christian faith meant that she could not condone students' social gender transitions, the school district official gave her a laptop and told her to draft her letter of resignation immediately. She was then escorted out of the building.

ADF senior counsel Tyson Langhofer, director of the ADF Center for Academic Freedom, said at the time, "Jackson Local School District officials require their teachers to immediately and personally validate a child's gender transition even if doing so violates their religious beliefs, conscience, or sound judgment." He continued, "Vivian treated every student with equality and respect, and it was unlawful for school officials to terminate her employment simply because she wanted to avoid using her voice to validate ideas that violate her faith and jeopardize her students' wellbeing."

Geraghty and ADF sued Jackson Local School District, arguing that the teacher's First Amendment rights had been violated. After two years, the school district agreed to a settlement. ADF legal counsel Logan Spena said, "The school tried to force Vivian to accept and repeat the school's viewpoint on issues that go to the foundation of morality and human identity, like what makes us male or female, by ordering her to personally participate in the social transition of her students." He continued, "The First Amendment prohibits that abuse of power, and Jackson Local School District officials have learned that comes at a steep cost." Spena noted, "Vivian resisted this unconstitutional demand and explained that her Christian faith made her unable to participate in her students' social transition, and she has received just vindication for taking this stand."

ADF has recently achieved similar wins for other teachers. In September, a Virginia school board agreed to pay former high school teacher Peter Vlaming $575,000 after he was fired for refusing to use a student's "preferred pronouns." The school board also agreed to change its policy regarding "preferred pronouns." In December, another Virginia school board was ordered not to force teachers to use students' "preferred pronouns" or to hide students' social gender transitions from parents.

In comments to The Washington Stand, Family Research Council's Senior Fellow for Education Studies, Meg Kilgannon, said, "Settlements for teachers who lose their jobs is a great step in the right direction." She continued, "Making gender ideology financially expensive may help its proponents see how dangerous and destructive this belief system is to everyone. But a financial settlement will never recapture the years lost and the heartache suffered by the courageous people who refuse to comply."

A recent survey published by Parents Defending Education found that a supermajority of American parents oppose school policies requiring teachers and administrators to endorse, encourage, or facilitate students' social gender transitions. According to the survey, 80% of parents disapprove of schools using new names or pronouns for students without notifying parents, 77% support school policies requiring schools to inform parents of students' social gender transition efforts, 75% support legislation requiring schools to inform parents of students' social gender transition efforts, and 79% of parents support legislation requiring schools to obtain parental consent before calling a student by a different name or pronouns. Additionally, 74% of parents oppose classroom lessons on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Kilgannon told TWS, "As the public understands more about gender ideology and its brutality, opposition to it will grow." She explained, "We need to pray that polling results like these will encourage political leaders to act quickly and decisively to protect children by reinforcing parental rights and the common-sense truth that everyone is born in the right body. Our sex is immutable and a gift from God." Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

S.A. McCarthy serves as a news writer at The Washington Stand.

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