Elizabeth Mirabelli and Lori Ann West are two middle school teachers in California who decided to file a federal lawsuit last week against their school districts administrators and the California State Board of Education, per Fox News. They decided to fight against a policy that required them to deceive parents about students' gender identity in the classroom.
Both teachers have taught for decades at Rincon Middle School in Escondido, California. These teachers are claiming their school district's policies regarding transgender students have effectively forced them to validate a child’s gender identity regardless if parental consent was given or not.
In an interview with “Fox and Friends Weekend," Mirabelli and her attorney Paul Jonna argued that this new policy is violating her First Amendment rights to free exercise of religion and speech in the classroom.
In his conversation with Fox, Mirabelli’s attorney stated, “The school is violating the parent’s fundamental rights to raise their own kids. But in addition, they’re compelling Elizabeth to speak in a way that violates her faith, to express views that she disagrees with and to deceive parents participating in these students’ social transition."
He continued, "When she’s speaking to a parent, she’s supposed to use the student’s legal name. But with the kids, they’re supposed to use the preferred name. So, it’s actively deceiving parents and blatantly unconstitutional.”
The two teachers are stating how they were mandated under their school district to accept any child’s transgender identity and to hide it from families if questioned. They also revealed how they were also instructed to use students' preferred names and pronouns in school settings, but to use their biological names and pronouns when speaking with the parents.