School Cannot Force Students To Use Preferred Pronouns, Federal Appeals Court Rules
A federal appeals court in Ohio ruled Thursday that students cannot be forced to use their preferred pronouns in school.
Defending Education (DE) filed suit against the Olentangy Local School District (OLSD) in 2023, arguing that the district’s anti-harassment policy that requires students to use others’ “preferred pronouns” violates students’ First Amendment rights by “forcing students to assert beliefs about sex and gender that are contrary to their own deeply held beliefs.” Although a lower court attempted to dismiss the challenge, the appeals court ruled in a 10-7 decision that the school could not “exercise its authority to compel speech or demand silence from citizens who disagree with the regulators’ politically controversial new preferred form of grammar.”
Because the school considers transgender students a protected class, students who violated the anti-harassment policy by referring to those students by their biological sex faced sanctions such as suspension and expulsion, according to DE. (RELATED: Judge Blocks School Punishment for Student Who Questioned Why a Girl Was in a Boy’s Locker Room)
“American history and tradition support the majority’s decision to repeal the school’s pronoun policy,” the court wrote in its opinion. “Over hundreds of years, grammar has developed in America without government interference. In keeping with our historical tradition and our treasured First Amendment, the pronoun debate must be won through individual persuasion, not government coercion. Our system prohibits public schools from becoming “enclaves of totalitarianism.”
OLSD did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
People gather outside the Stonewall Inn for a memorial and vigil for the Oklahoma teenager who died following a fight in a high school bathroom on February 26, 2024 in New York. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
“We are deeply pleased with the Sixth Circuit’s thorough analysis of not only our case but also the state of students’ First Amendment rights in the modern era,” Nicole Neily, DE’s founder and president, said in a statement. “The court’s decision – and its numerous concurrency – articulate the importance of free speech, the limits and dangers of public schools purporting to act in loco parentis, and the crucial role of persuasion – rather than coercion – in the American public square. »
“Despite its strenuous attempt to argue the case, the 6th Circuit Court en banc sternly reminded the Olentangy School District that it cannot force students to express a view on gender identity with which they do not agree, nor extend its reach beyond the school threshold into areas better suited to the exercise of parental authority,” said Sarah Parshall Perry, ED vice president and legal officer, in a press release. “A resounding victory in student voice and parental rights has been long overdue for school district families and we are pleased that the court’s decision will benefit others seeking to assert their rights in the classroom and beyond.” »
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