Judge Blocks Florida Ban on Preferred Pronouns
Florida's ban on transgender and nonbinary teachers using their preferred pronouns in public schools was blocked Tuesday by a federal judge in Tallahassee....
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Facts
- Florida's ban on transgender and nonbinary teachers using their preferred pronouns in public schools was blocked Tuesday by a federal judge in Tallahassee.1
- Part of Florida's Parental Rights in Education Act, which was signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in March 2022, prohibits school employees from requesting they be called by pronouns that don't correspond to their born gender.2
- Florida has argued that because public employees' speech loses First Amendment protection if it comes as part of the employee's work duties, the law is constitutional.1
- Katie Wood, a transgender Hillsborough County teacher, and AV Schwandes, a nonbinary teacher who was fired last year by Florida Virtual School, sued to challenge the law based on the First Amendment and a federal civil rights law.3
- The preliminary injunction granted Tuesday applies only to Wood, who prefers to be called Ms. Wood but would have to be called Teacher Wood under the current law. In his ruling, the judge said, 'Florida has not justified this grave restraint' on Wood's free speech rights.4
- Schwandes didn't receive an injunction because the judge ruled they lacked standing.5
Sources: 1Reuters.com, 2Newsmax, 3Orlando Sentinel, 4Guardian and 5LGBTQ Nation.
Narratives
- Right narrative, as provided by Breitbart. Florida passed this bill because people are born classified as one of two genders, and to force someone to recognize otherwise is unconstitutional. The woke, leftist agenda many are trying to force on the country is harmful and there's no reason for Florida or any other state to stand for it.
- Left narrative, as provided by Advocate.com. Far-right legislators like those in Florida are on a rampage against the LGBTQ community, but fortunately, courts are protecting these citizen's constitutional rights. Not only is the Florida court upholding Wood's right to free speech, but other courts are protecting the rights of transgender people to not be harmfully misgendered.
