Pronoun policy in schools violates First Amendment, court finds

(The Center Square) – A federal appeals court reversed a lower court’s decision holding that an Ohio school district’s policy on student pronouns did not violate First Amendment rights.

Olentangy Local School District maintains a policy that bans individuals from referring to transgender and nonbinary students using pronouns that match their biological sex.

Mathew Hoffman, legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, said this policy was put to the test by a parent who questioned whether their student could be punished for not obeying this rule.

“What the counsel for the school district said was that purposely referring to another student by using gendered language that that student knows is contrary to the other students identity would be an example of discrimination under board policy,” Hoffman said.

Defending Education appealed an initial ruling, which upheld the school district’s policy. A 17-judge panel struck down the lower court’s opinion 10-7 in November, holding that th...