Teacher Fired for Not Calling Transgender Student by "Correct" Pronoun

Peter Vlaming

“A Virginia high school teacher was fired Thursday for refusing to use a transgender student’s new pronouns, a case believed to be the first of its kind in the state. After a four-hour hearing, the West Point School Board voted 5-0 to terminate Peter Vlaming, a French teacher at West Point High School who resisted administrators’ orders to use male pronouns to refer to a ninth-grade student who had undergone a gender transition. The board met in closed session for nearly an hour before the vote. Vlaming, 47, who had taught at the school for almost seven years after spending more than a decade in France, told his superiors his Christian faith prevented him from using male pronouns for a student he saw as female. The student’s family informed the school system of the transition over the summer. Vlaming said he had the student in class the year before when the student identified as female. Vlaming agreed to use the student’s new, male name. But he tried to avoid using any pronouns--he or him, and she or her--when referring to the student. Speaking in his own defense, Vlaming said he loves and respects all his students and had tried to reach a solution based on ‘mutual tolerance.’ That effort was rejected, he said, putting him at risk of losing his job for having views held by ‘most of the world for most of human history.’ ‘That is not tolerance,’ Vlaming said. ‘That is coercion. I am being punished for what I haven’t said.’ It’s not clear if Vlaming’s firing will lead to a wrongful-termination lawsuit. Vlaming said he was interested in pursuing a legal appeal, but he wanted to consult with his attorney before announcing further steps.”

​“Virginia high school teacher fired,” Richmond Times-Dispatch, Dec. 6, 2018

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