An Ohio middle school teacher, Vivian Geraghty, is headed to trial after claiming she was forced to resign for refusing to use the preferred names and pronouns of two transgender students. In her 2022 lawsuit against the Jackson Local School District, Geraghty argued her First Amendment rights were violated. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio recently ruled that compelling her to use the students’ names amounted to “compelled speech” and deemed the school’s pronoun policy non-neutral.
However, the case will proceed to trial to determine if Geraghty’s resignation was forced and whether the First Amendment protects her refusal to comply.
The incident began on the first day of school in August 2022, when two students asked Geraghty to use names different from those on the school roster. Due to her religious beliefs, Geraghty continued using the students’ deadnames and requested they be removed from her class. After meetings with school officials, Geraghty was told that non-compliance would be a problem. She ultimately resigned that same day, though accounts differ on whether she was pressured to do so.
The lawsuit, filed by conservative group Alliance Defending Freedom, argued that the school did not offer alternative solutions, such as moving Geraghty to another classroom. The district denies having a specific pronoun policy but follows Title IX guidelines banning discrimination based on gender identity.
Alliance Defending Freedom’s legal counsel, Logan Spena, claims the school violated Geraghty’s rights by forcing her to affirm views that contradicted her beliefs.
