US appeals court upholds school’s policy to use preferred pronouns News
Acroterion, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
US appeals court upholds school’s policy to use preferred pronouns

The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled last Wednesday that Montgomery County, Maryland, could require teachers to use students’ preferred pronouns and prohibit teachers from sharing information about gender identity with parents.

The 2-1 opinion, written by Judge Robert Bruce King, held that the school board’s policy requiring teachers to use the preferred pronouns of students and not discuss gender information with parents did not violate the plaintiff’s First Amendment rights. The plaintiff, Kimberly Ann Polk, was a substitute teacher in Montgomery County and argued that her Christian beliefs prohibited her from using a student’s pronouns that are different from their biological sex. She claimed the board’s policy violated her right to freedom of religion. The Court of Appeals, however, found that the school board’s policy was “neutral” and of general applicability. As such, the board’s goal of preventing discrimination and protecting student safety was sufficient to overcome any burden on Polk’s religion.

Plaintiff Polk also asserted the policy violated her free speech rights by “compelling her, on condition of continued employment, to communicate misleading messages to parents.” The Court of Appeals similarly disagreed with this argument by stating that communicating with students and parents is part of a teacher’s official duties. Because of this, Polk was not acting as a private speaker when adhering to this policy, but rather a government employee. The court ruled that, in her capacity as a teacher and government employee, Polk did not have the First Amendment right not to follow the policy.

This decision upholds the lower court’s dismissal of Polk’s free speech and religion claims. Polk also asserted that the school board violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by denying her a religious accommodation to the policy. This law prohibits employers from failing or refusing “to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual” because of their religion. The Fourth Circuit again upheld the lower court’s denial of an injunction for this because Polk’s alleged harms that would justify the injunction were the violation of her constitutional rights. Because the court dismissed her First Amendment claims, Polk could not argue her rights were violated.

This case comes against the backdrop of a divided judiciary on transgender issues. A federal judge in California found last month that schools cannot bar teachers from telling parents their children are transgender. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has temporarily blocked this ruling.

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