Virginia court revives lawsuit by teacher fired for refusing to use transgender student’s pronouns

By DENISE LAVOIE
Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A lawsuit filed by a Virginia high school teacher who was fired after he refused to use a transgender student’s pronouns has been reinstated by the state Supreme Court. Peter Vlaming was a French teacher at West Point High School when he was fired in 2018. He sued the school board and administrators. A judge dismissed the complaint, but the Supreme Court overturned that ruling Thursday and said the lawsuit can proceed to trial. Vlaming said he could not use the student’s pronouns because of his religious and philosophical beliefs that each person’s sex is biologically fixed and cannot be changed. The school board argued that Vlaming violated the school’s anti-discrimination policy.