Teacher to Transgender Student: I Will Not Use ‘Female Pronoun,’ Accept It or Leave My Class
A Florida teacher refused a transgender student’s request to use the student’s desired pronouns — and now the whole staff will undergo additional training to ensure an inclusive environment, First Coast News reported. . .
“I will NOT refer to you with female pronouns,” Thomas Caggiano of Sandalwood High School in Jacksonville wrote in an email obtained by First Coast News. “If this is not acceptable for you, change classes.” . . .
Duval County Public Schools called the incident “unfortunate” and “not consistent with our expectations” but said staff would undergo additional training to ensure an inclusive environment at school, the outlet reported.
District spokesperson Laureen Ricks added in an email to First Coast News that “it has served as a teachable moment and allowed for constructive dialogue among our school community. As [Superintendent] Dr. [Diana] Greene has shared, ‘We all have an experience of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, and we all deserve to feel comfortable expressing those identities.'” . . .
Ricks told the outlet that the teacher has been counseled, but it wasn’t immediately clear if discipline will take place. The matter has been referred to the district’s Office of Equity and Inclusion/Professional Standards, which can conduct an investigation, Ricks added to First Coast News. (Read more from “Teacher to Transgender Student: I Will Not Use ‘Preferred’ Pronoun, Accept It or Leave My Class” HERE)
Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE
