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The world has definitely transformed in the last few years. While some view it as progress, others see it as a huge step in the wrong direction.
Pamela Richard, a teacher from Kansas, bravely stood up for her beliefs even though she risked being suspended. While working at Geary County Schools in Kansas, she was suspended for three days for refusing to use a preferred pronoun for a student.
Richard explains that she got suspended for calling a biologically female student by the student’s legal last name.
Before this, a school counselor informed her that a student wanted to go by a different first name and preferred a different gender identity. The student was assigned female at birth.
To avoid using the student’s preferred name, she decided to call her “Miss [legal/enrolled last name].” Richard thought it was a good compromise, but it didn’t end well.
The teacher was eventually suspended because they did not use the pronouns that the individual requested to be identified by.
The lawsuit happened because the policy went against her beliefs.
“Ms. Ricard is a Christian and holds sincere religious beliefs consistent with the traditional Christian and biblical understanding of the human person and biological sex,” the lawsuit stated. “Ms. Ricard believes that God created human beings as either male or female, that this sex is fixed in each person from the moment of conception, and that it cannot be changed, regardless of an individual person’s feelings, desires, or preferences.”
In May, the teacher won a $95,000 award in federal court. The attorney mentioned that she could communicate with parents freely without going against her beliefs, as long as she spoke to them in the same way she talks to students at school.
She could also refrain from using pronouns that didn’t match students’ biological sex. Staff couldn’t share students’ preferred names or pronouns with parents. The court rejected the policy.
The school has not made any comments regarding the lawsuit.
