GOP gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin has called for Loudoun County Public Schools to reinstate a teacher who was placed on leave after opposing a potential policy requiring staff to use students’ preferred pronouns.
“On a day where we’re celebrating and honoring and remembering the 1.2 million Americans who gave their lives for our freedom to protect our Constitution, it’s amazing to me that we see a Loudoun County School Board ignore and absolutely trample on Tanner Cross constitutional rights to express not only his religious beliefs but also his right to free speech,” Youngkin said on Fox News Prime Time on Memorial Day.
Tanner Cross spoke in a May 27 school board hearing. He said, “I love all of my students but I will never lie to them regardless of the consequences. I’m a teacher but I serve God first and I will not affirm that a biological boy can be a girl and vice versa because it’s against my religion, it’s lying to a child, it’s abuse to a child, and it’s sinning against our God.”
The Loudoun Times-Mirror reported that Cross was placed on administrative leave later in the week, but the district did not confirm why Cross was placed on leave.
On Tuesday June 1, the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) announced a lawsuit against the district. In a letter obtained by the ADF, the district told Cross he was being placed on leave “pending an investigation of allegations that you engaged in conduct that has had a disruptive impact on the operations of Leesburg Elementary School.”
“Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing a Leesburg Elementary School teacher filed a lawsuit against Loudoun County Public Schools Tuesday after officials suspended him for voicing his objections to two proposed school policies during the public comment period of a school board meeting,” states an ADF press release.
According to The Loudoun Times-Mirror, Cross was speaking in opposition to a draft policy the school is considering.
“School staff shall, at the request of a student or parent/legal guardian, when using a name or pronoun to address the student, use the name and pronoun that correspond to their gender identity,” the policy draft states. “Inadvertent slips in the use of names or pronouns may occur; however, staff or students who intentionally and persistently refuse to respect a student’s gender identity by using the wrong name and gender pronoun are in violation of this policy.”
The policy is a response to HB 145 and SB 161, passed by the 2020 General Assembly requiring school boards to adopt policies for treatment of transgender students by the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year; the policies must be consistent with a model policy developed by the Department of Education, which includes a similar requirement for staff to use preferred pronouns.
“Public schools have no business compelling teachers to express ideological beliefs that they don’t hold, nor do they have the right to suspend someone simply for respectfully providing their opinion at a public meeting,” ADF Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer said in the press release. “The school district favors a certain set of beliefs on a hotly contested issue, and it wants to force Tanner to cry uncle and endorse them as well. That’s neither legal nor constitutional, and neither was the school’s move to place Tanner on leave.”
Youngkin’s statement to Fox drew attention from Democrats.
“Nice #Pride2021 month post Glenn,” HB 145 sponsor Delegate Marcus Simon (D-Fairfax) tweeted. “I am proud to have introduced a bill, now law, that requires Va Schools to adopt evidence based practices to protect Trans students from this kind of unhealthy, harmful discrimination & provide a positive learning environment for ALL students.”
Terry McAuliffe, front-runner for the Democratic nomination for governor, tweeted, “Glenn spends his days on Fox News pushing division, hate, and Donald Trump’s conspiracy theories. I spend my days fighting for you, and I will always stand up for LGBTQ+ Virginians.”
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Eric Burk is a reporter at The Virginia Star and the Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
