The Great Pronoun Debate: Can Public Schools Require Employees to Use the Pronouns with Which Students Identify?
Schools and universities have struggled over the last several years with the question of whether students have a protected right to use gender-based pronouns with which they identify, but which differ from the pronouns associated with their birth gender. A subsequent, and sometimes more difficult question, is assuming that students do, can schools require teachers and other employees to refer to students by those gender-identity pronouns, particularly when the employee claims that acknowledging a student’s “change” in gender conflicts with the employee’s religious beliefs? Can a school fire a teacher who insists on using the old pronouns?