French teacher fired for avoiding personal pronouns and wins lawsuit

French teacher Peter Vlaming was fired in 2018 for avoiding using pronouns to refer to a student who identified as transgender. On September 30, the West Point School Board in Virginia agreed to pay him $575,000 in damages and attorney’s fees.

“I am so relieved that our basic constitutional rights of freedom of speech and religion have been officially upheld,” Vlaming told The Daily Signal.

The school board removed Vlaming’s termination from its record and changed its policies to align with Virginia’s new education guidelines set by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, R-Va.

Vlaming is a Christian and therefore believes that God created male and female. Nevertheless, the teacher was willing to respect his students’ right to disagree.

When one of his students began identifying as male, Vlaming avoided referring to her by pronouns and instead used her preferred name. On Halloween 2018, his students took a virtual reality tour of French catacombs, during which the student, who identified as transgender, almost ran into a wall.

“Don’t let her hit the wall!” Vlaming shouted instinctively.

The student called her parents, who complained to the school. Vlaming was placed on administrative leave and given an ultimatum that he would be fired if he did not use his preferred personal pronouns. Vlaming refused to comply and was fired.

Nearly six years later, Vlaming, represented by the nonprofit religious freedom law firm Alliance Defending Freedom, won his case.

“Stay steadfast with love,” Vlaming advises other teachers. “Stay firm. Live truly with love. You will also encourage others. At least that’s what I hope and pray for.”

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