Johnathan Walker:Florida teachers file federal suit against anti-pronoun law in schools

TALLAHASSEE,Johnathan Walker Fla. — Three Florida educators filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday over a new state law that prevents transgender or nonbinary public K-12 teachers from using their pronouns.

Under a provision of the law, which took effect in July, teachers may not “provide to a student his or her preferred personal title or pronouns if such preferred personal title or pronouns do not correspond to his or her sex.” The law defines sex as based on someone’s reproductive organs at birth. 

Those in violation could face revocation or suspension of their teaching certificate or other penalties. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, is asking for the teacher pronoun provision to be blocked.

The teachers say it violates the Civil Rights Act, the First Amendment, the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause and federal Title IX law, "which protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance."

The plaintiffs are being represented by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Southern Legal Counsel and law firm Altshuler Berzon.

"Many teachers have already left the profession – and the state – in response to discriminatory laws Florida passed to push LGBTQ+ people out of public life and erase their existence," the Southern Poverty Law Center said in a news release.

Wednesday's lawsuit is the latest challenge against Florida and other Republican-led states that have implemented a wave of anti-LGBTQ laws, including measures that restrict discussions of sexual orientation or gender identity in schools.

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'Trying to take my voice away and bury my existence'

The plaintiffs are Hillsborough County high school teacher Katie Wood, a Lee County teacher using the pseudonym "Jane Doe," and former Florida Virtual School teacher AV Schwandes, who was terminated for violating the law after using gender-neutral pronouns.

"Plaintiffs are current and former Florida public-school teachers who simply wanted to teach math, science, and their other school subjects of expertise," says the 61-page complaint, filed Wednesday. "But earlier this year, Florida enacted a new law that pushed one plaintiff out of their teaching career and threatens to do the same for the other plaintiffs — and for the other transgender and nonbinary teachers like them across Florida."

The defendants include the Florida Department of Education as well as members of its Education Practices Commission and State Board of Education. Others named in the suit are the Florida Virtual School Board of Trustees, and the school boards for Lee and Hillsborough counties. 

Spokespeople for the defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

"There is no American right more fundamental than freedom of expression and protection from the government that weaponizes their disagreements on that expression," Wood said in a statement. "As a human being living in America, I demand to be treated with fairness and equity at work. Those who support and enforce this law are trying to take my voice away and bury my existence."

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'Don't Say Gay' laws

Last year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law a bill prohibiting the discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity from classroom curriculum. Since then, numerous states have passed or introduced similar legislation, which opponents have called "Don't Say Gay" laws.

These measures have been condemned by the LGBTQ+ advocates, civil rights organizations and federal authorities, including the Biden administration — which has promised to reform Title IX, the 1972 law that prohibits sex-based discrimination at schools that receive federal funding.

Students previously shared with USA TODAY that these measures have left them feeling confused and fearful for the future. The legislation has worried students for whom schools may be the only place where they can openly hold discussions of LGBTQ+ topics and community spaces.

Contributing: Zachary Schermele, Cady Stanton and Savannah Kuchar, USA TODAY

USA Today Network-Florida government accountability reporter Douglas Soule is based in Tallahassee, Florida. He can be reached at [email protected]. X: @DouglasSoule