Court: Ohio School District Can Punish ‘Misgendering’

Another victory for Big Brother. A court ruled last week that an Ohio school district could punish students who intentionally “misgender” LGBTQ individuals. There’s nothing like crushing the First Amendment and outlawing reality in one fell swoop.

Ohio’s Olentangy Local Schools can now penalize students who “intentionally” misgender, thanks to the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, as The Columbus Dispatch reports. Those confused individuals who think they can be transgender despite biology and who claim that there are dozens of genders are now a protected and favored class. Rest in peace, First Amendment — and parental rights.

As Circuit Judge Alice Batchelder wrote in her dissent from the court’s majority ruling, the First Amendment does (in a world not gone mad on wokeness) stop the district “from compelling students to use speech that conveys a message with which they disagree, namely that biology does not determine gender.” Parents Defending Education (PDE) had argued in a legal filing that the schools’ policy violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments and even penalized students for activity on their devices when not at school. Such LGBTQ policies attack both freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

The judges on the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in Cincinnati, said Monday in a 2-1 decision that the district did not compel speech in a way that violates students' First Amendment rights, upholding a previous decision from a U.S. district court judge. Last year, the U.S. district court denied a preliminary injunction request filed by Parents Defending Education, which would have required the Olentangy Local School District to immediately change its harassment policies for students, The Dispatch previously reported.

Judge Jane Stranch made the ridiculous claim in the majority opinion that “without the ability to enforce such anti-harassment policies, the District would be unable to protect students” from harassment, according to The Dispatch.

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So now schools must suppress liberty to promote “safety.” The Founders would be appalled; as Ben Franklin said, “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” Notice no one ever consults the feelings and safety of individuals who do not want to participate in the LGBTQ ideological lie.

The policies in question prohibit students from intentionally misgendering transgender students — such as failing to address them by their preferred pronouns — including on personal devices, The Dispatch previously reported. The policies also prevent students from engaging in discriminatory harassment or bullying based on race, national origin, sex, disability, religion or ancestry.  Olentangy Local School District is the fourth largest in the state, with over 23,000 students.

Stranch specifically claimed that the district has the ability and right to regulate speech, saying, “The district is entitled to recognize that speech about specific students’ identities is particularly harmful and likely to disrupt the educational experience, and to regulate that speech accordingly." PDE plans to seek further legal redress.

The pernicious school district happily told The Dispatch that the ruling “affirmed the constitutionality of our policies, and we remain committed to creating a safe and inclusive environment for all of our students.” That doesn't include students who want to live in reality. There are days I am infinitely grateful I was homeschooled.