VA teacher Tanner Cross on school appealing his suspension: 'Unconstitutional what happened to me'
Virginia teacher Byron Tanner Cross, who was suspended after opposing a change to the transgender student policy at Loudoun County Public Schools, says he was 'very happy' with the judge's decision that his 'rights were violated.'
The Virginia Supreme Court has refused an appeal from Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS), leaving in place a lower court ruling that required the school district to reinstate teacher Tanner Cross.
Cross, a physical education teacher, sparked an uproar this summer when he told the school board that he wouldn't "affirm that a biological boy can be a girl and vice versa because it's against my religion."
During the speech, he added that "it's lying to a child, it's abuse to a child, and it's sinning against our God."
The decision raises several issues for LCPS, which recently passed the restrictions that Cross had been protesting.
In June, Twelfth Circuit Judge James E. Plowman approved Cross' request to halt the county's decision to suspend him. Plowman argued that Cross was likely to succeed if his case was brought to trial, that the school district had adversely impacted his First Amendment rights, and that reinstating his job was within the "public interest."
He also rejected the school district's argument that it was suspending Cross not due to his speech, but because of the disruption it created.
LCPS declined to comment but previously outlined its disagreement with Plowman when it announced its intent to appeal.
"Leesburg Elementary School and Loudoun County Public Schools experienced – and continue to experience – significant disruption since the May 25 School Board meeting during which Cross addressed the board," the LCPS statement read.
"Many students and parents at Leesburg Elementary have expressed fear, hurt and disappointment about coming to school. Addressing those concerns is paramount to the school division's goal to provide a safe, welcoming, and affirming learning environment for all students. While LCPS respects the rights of public-school employees to free speech and free exercise of religion, those rights do not outweigh the rights of students to be educated in a supportive and nurturing environment."
Cross' suspension led to heated school board meetings with residents expressing strong disagreement over the county's proposed policy.
Earlier this month, the school board passed policy 8040, which requires the use of preferred pronouns. Passed on a 7-2 vote, it also allows "gender-expansive and transgender students" to participate in sports and other activities "in a manner consistent with the student’s gender identity." That change prompted two other Loudoun teachers – Monica Gill and Kimberly Wright – to join Cross' lawsuit.
"Teachers shouldn’t be forced to promote ideologies that are harmful to their students and that they believe are false, nor should they be silenced for commenting at a public meeting," ADF senior counsel Tyson Langhofer said in a statement on the Virginia Supreme Court ruling. "The lower court’s decision was a well-reasoned application of the facts to clearly established law, as the Virginia Supreme Court found."
"But because Loudoun County Public Schools is now requiring all teachers and students to deny truths about what it means to be male and female and compelling them to call students by their chosen pronouns or face punishment, we have moved to amend our lawsuit to challenge that policy on behalf of multiple faculty members. Public employees cannot be forced to contradict their core beliefs just to keep a job," Langhofer added.
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Langhofer previously told Fox News: "All we're asking for really is accommodation for all teachers to be able to speak without being forced to speak things that they believe are untrue and that are harmful to students."
Langhofer added: "The accommodation they're seeking is they would use whatever name students want, they just want to be able to avoid using pronouns that are inconsistent with a student's biological sex."
Fox News' Bradford Betz contributed to this report.
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