Back in 2018, the news reported that "A Virginia high school teacher, who refused to use the preferred pronouns of a student who claims to be transgender, was fired Thursday."
"In a case," they said, "that is believed to be the first of its kind in the state, the West Point School Board voted unanimously to fire Peter Vlaming, a French teacher in the district’s high school."
Six years later, the teacher has won his case for free speech.
Here's the rest of the story.
I'll be talking more about this and the results of last night's vice-presidential debate on our radio program this morning.
Be informed, not misled.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that Vlaming “resisted administrators’ orders to use male pronouns to refer to a ninth-grade student who had undergone a gender transition.”
“I can’t think of a worse way to treat a child than what was happening,” said West Point High Principal Jonathan Hochman, who testified that he instructed Vlaming to use male pronouns.
Vlaming, 47, had taught at the school for nearly seven years after living in France for over a decade. He told administrators his Christian beliefs did not allow him to use male pronouns for a biologically female student – one he had previously taught when she identified as female.
While Vlaming agreed to use the student’s new male name, he attempted to avoid using the pronouns he, him, she, and her when referring to her. The student reportedly complained that she felt uncomfortable and targeted by his refusal to use her preferred pronouns.
During a public hearing, Vlaming said he respects all his students and had attempted to resolve the situation based on “mutual tolerance.”
His effort, however, was not accepted, he said, putting him in the position of risking the loss of his job for having views held by “most of the world for most of human history.”
“That is not tolerance,” Vlaming said, according to the Times-Dispatch. “That is coercion.”
According to the news report, administrators agreed that Vlaming discriminated against the student.
“That discrimination then leads to creating a hostile learning environment,” said West Point schools superintendent Laura Abel. “And the student had expressed that. The parent had expressed that. They felt disrespected.”
He was fired.
He then filed a lawsuit.
The hearing drew an overflow crowd, made up largely of parents and students supporting a man they described as a model teacher who does extra duty as a soccer coach and bus driver. A stack of signs that read “Justice for Mr. Vlaming” sat by the door, but school officials said no signs would be allowed in the small meeting room that could fit only a fraction of the crowd.
LGBTQ-rights group Equality Virginia called for “statewide guidance” that will protect all students from discrimination at school.
Fast forward six years to yesterday.
Well, the LGBTQ-rights group got some "statewide guidance."
The headline reads, "Virginia School Board Will Pay Damages to Teacher Fired for Refusing Transgender Student’s Pronouns."
Breitbart reports, "Peter Vlaming, a French teacher, was unanimously fired by the West Point School Board in December 2018 for rejecting the use of a transgender student’s pronouns."
"In 2019, he filed a lawsuit claiming the termination violated his First Amendment rights. On Monday, the school board settled the suit after it had been kicked around between various courts over several months."
Yesterday, we learned that The West Point School Board in Virginia has settled to pay $575,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees to a teacher fired for refusing to call a transgender student by their preferred pronouns.
The agreement came several months after the Virginia Supreme Court reinstated Vlaming’s case, which the King William Circuit Court dismissed. The lower court did not believe Vlaming had any valid reasons for the law to accept his suit.
However, the Supreme Court determined in December that the school board violated Vlaming’s rights.
Vlaming’s lawsuit alleged “constitutional, statutory, and breach-of-contract claims” against the school district, Justice D. Arthur Kelsey wrote in an opinion explaining the high court’s ruling.
The school board also cleared Vlaming’s firing record and changed policies to correspond with rules set forth by Republican Gov. Glen Youngkin’s administration, which overturned policies set forth by former Democrat Gov. Ralph Northam.
Righting the wrongs one case at a time.
The Left is at war with religious freedom and freedom of speech.
Responding to an audience question about “climate misinformation,” Kerry described how social media makes it difficult to form consensus and said the First Amendment makes it difficult to weed out “disinformation” online.
“But, look, if people go to only one source, and the source they go to is sick and has an agenda, and they’re putting out disinformation, our First Amendment stands as a major block to the ability to be able to hammer it out of existence,” Kerry said.
“What we need is to win the ground, win the right to govern by hopefully winning enough votes that you’re free to be able to implement change,” he added while acknowledging that different people have other visions for change.
Indeed, we have a different vision for change.
Freedom of speech is a gift from God. Our government was established to protect these rights, not to remove them, punish those who do not comply, and replace traditional biblical beliefs with government-approved beliefs and words.
Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Engaged. Be Sober. Be Vigilant. Be Prayerful.