A school fired an anti-trans teacher and now has to pay him half a million dollars

A Virginia school board will pay $575,000 in damages and legal fees after firing a teacher for refusing to respect a student’s pronouns.

Peter Vlaming, a former West Point High School French teacher, sued the local school board for $1 million after the board fired him for refusing to use a trans student’s male pronouns. The student had recently moved and received a legal name change. Although Vlaming would address the student by his new name, the teacher said using male pronouns would violate his own religious beliefs and right to free speech.

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Vlaming sued and was represented by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a highly influential Christian hate group that regularly takes legal action against any expansion of LGBTQ+ civil rights. The King William Circuit Court dismissed Vlaming’s lawsuit on the grounds that Vlaming had failed to establish his legal claim. But in 2023, the Virginia Supreme Court overturned the dismissal.

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“I was unfairly fired from my teaching job because my religious beliefs put me on a collision course with the school administration, which required teachers to report to the school.” just one perspective on gender identity – their preferred perspective,” Vlaming said in a statement following news of the agreement. “I loved teaching French and tried to be polite to every student in my class, but I was not allowed to say anything that would directly offend my conscience.”

West Point Public Schools Superintendent Larry L. Frazier Jr. said The Washington Post that the district “will continue to be a place where all students feel safe, respected and welcome on a daily basis” and that the school is pleased to have reached an agreement “that will not have a negative impact on students, staff or….” “West Point School Community.”

“Our focus is on all students and our goal is to continue to build positive relationships throughout our school community,” Frazier said.

A press release from ADF said the agreement also included the removal of Vlaming’s dismissal from his register. The organization also wrote that the district agreed to change its policies “to align with Virginia’s new education policy established by Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) that respects fundamental free speech and parental rights.”

In 2020, the Virginia legislature passed a law requiring schools to adopt trans-inclusive policies. However, with the election of Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) later that year, he directed the state Department of Education (VDOE) to issue new guidelines requiring teachers to use a student’s legal name and the pronouns associated with their “biological sex.” to use.

Some of the state’s largest school districts are refusing to follow the guidelines, saying federal and state anti-discrimination laws override the VDOE’s guidelines.

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