Byron “Tanner” Cross the P.E. teacher in Virginia that was placed on a leave of absence because he refused to teach his students about transgender identities has been reinstated by the court and will resume his teaching, according to The Daily Wire.
“BREAKING: Tanner Cross, a Virginia elementary school teacher and ADF client who was suspended for raising concerns to the board about a proposed gender policy, has won a temporary injunction and the judge has ordered his reinstatement.”
“A massive victory for freedom of speech.”
BREAKING: Tanner Cross, a Virginia elementary school teacher and ADF client who was suspended for raising concerns to the board about a proposed gender policy, has won a temporary injunction and the judge has ordered his reinstatement.
A massive victory for freedom of speech.
— Alliance Defending Freedom (@AllianceDefends) June 8, 2021
BREAKING: Loudoun County judge rules @LCPSOfficial must reinstate suspended teacher Byron Tanner Cross, who spoke against proposed gender pronoun policy at school board meeting. Judge calls school system's suspension unconstitutional and its handling of situation "vindictive."
— Neal Augenstein (@AugensteinWTOP) June 8, 2021
Judge James Plowman says Cross "was speaking as a citizen, not in his official capacity," as a teacher. It occurred "during non-working hours and at a forum where public comment was invited."
— Neal Augenstein (@AugensteinWTOP) June 8, 2021
Judge Plowman: "The Plaintiff's interest in expressing his First Amendment speech outweighs the Defendants interest in restricting the same," and that his comments "did not serve to meaningfully disrupt the operation or services of Leesburg Elementary School."
— Neal Augenstein (@AugensteinWTOP) June 8, 2021
“I love all of my students but I will never lie to them regardless of the consequences. I’m a teacher but I serve God first and I will not affirm that a biological boy can be a girl and vice versa because it’s against my religion, it’s lying to a child, it’s abuse to a child, and it’s sinning against our God,” Cross stated.
“Public schools have no business compelling teachers to express ideological beliefs that they don’t hold, nor do they have the right to suspend someone simply for respectfully providing their opinion at a public meeting,” Langhofer stated.
“The school district favors a certain set of beliefs on a hotly contested issue, and it wants to force Tanner to cry uncle and endorse them as well. That’s neither legal nor constitutional, and neither was the school’s move to place Tanner on leave.”
From The Daily Wire:
A Loudoun County, Virginia, elementary school teacher who was placed on administrative leave in May for refusing to affirm transgender identity in children was reinstated by a judge Tuesday.
Cross retained the legal counsel of ADF after he made national news for his speech to the school board regarding its proposed policies governing the gender identity of students. Citing his Christian faith, Cross asserted that he would not be conforming to any school district policy that demands LCPS staff use preferred pronouns and “allow gender-expansive and transgender students to participate in such activities in a manner consistent with the student’s gender identity.”
ADF further explained in a press release:
The bottom line is that the school district can’t use teachers as a mouthpiece to promote a political agenda that violates their beliefs. But that is exactly what it is trying to do. And when Tanner used his constitutional right to speak up against the policy, officials punished him, propping him up as an example and sending the message that teachers must toe the ideological line or face the consequences.
It must stop.
The debate over the school’s policy is about much more than pronouns. It’s about scientific truth. It’s whether the government can force an individual to endorse an ideology that conflicts with his beliefs.
And Tanner’s case is about something even more important: it’s about whether we have the right to voice dissenting opinions to our elected officials at all. Not everyone will agree with Tanner about what the school’s policy should be. But, in a free society, everyone must have the right to make their case to their elected officials about what the policy should be.
There’s a lot at stake.