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CV NEWS FEED // Virginia teachers will not be required to ask or use students’ “preferred pronouns” in light of a lawsuit that was settled this week.
According to Fox News, three teachers from Harrisonburg, Virginia, sued the Harrisonburg City School Board in 2022 after they attended a required training session on the school’s nondiscrimination policy, where they were told they must ask all students what their preferred pronouns are and then use those pronouns at all times.
The policy also stated that teachers were not to notify or request the consent of parents, and non-compliant teachers could be terminated.
The teachers, represented by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), stated that the policy, by compelling them to use speech which they objected to, violated the Commonwealth’s Free Speech Clause and the Virginia Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
In the settlement, the school district stated that it does not require staff to ask or use preferred pronouns, and that it does “not support hiding or withholding information from parents.”
The school wrote in a statement, “This case concludes because the processes we have always encouraged — both informal and formal — proved effective. We are gratified by this resolution and wish it could have been accomplished without litigation.”
ADF senior counsel Kate Anderson, director of the ADF Center for Parental Rights, said that the Constitution protects all teachers to do their “job in alignment with their religious beliefs, including how they refer to their students and the vital information they share with parents.”
“We are pleased to favorably resolve this case on behalf of our clients,” Anderson said, “and ensure that the Harrisonburg City School Board will respect every teacher’s right to speak consistent with her faith.”
