June 1, 2021 5:02 PM | With information from dpa
15 minutes. A gym teacher at a school in Virginia, on the east coast of the United States, was temporarily discharged after he spoke out against a proposal by the center for teachers to address their students according to pronouns that correspond to your gender identity.
Byron Cross, a gym teacher at Leesburg Elementary School in Loudoun County, explained during a school meeting on May 25 that following the centre’s guidelines in this regard contravened their religious beliefs, after it was done on Tuesday. publishes a recording of what happened.
“I love all my students, but I will never lie to them regardless of the consequences. I am a teacher but I serve God and I will not claim that a boy is a girl and vice versa because it goes against my religion“, he justified.
“That is lying to my son, it is an abuse for a child and it is sinning against our God,” he added.
Two days after his intervention before the school board, the center notified him that they would grant him an administrative leave, keeping his salary. Cross’s attorney, Tyson Langhofer, publicly shared the brief and criticized his client for being investigated for “conduct detrimental” to the school.
“Public schools do not have to force teachers to express ideological beliefs that they do not have. It is impossible to suspend someone simply for speaking out at a public meeting, which is what those meetings are designed for,” Langhofer explained.
“It is not about pronouns, it is about endorsing an ideology, the school favors certain beliefs, and wants to force the teacher to surrender and endorse them. That is not legal or constitutional“said the lawyer, who denounced the violation of his client’s right to freedom of expression and requested the suspension of the measure and his reinstatement to the job.
“Indoctrination” in schools
Conservative groups have denounced in recent months the “indoctrination” that would be taking place in the classrooms of Loudoun County with the launch of diversity and equity initiatives on racial issues and LGBTQ rights, even using the term “pornographic” to refer to the textbooks used in the centers.
