LEWIS CENTER, Ohio (WCMH) -- A central Ohio school district can't discipline students who refer to transgender classmates by their "biological pronouns," a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.
The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals said in a 10-7 decision that Olentangy Local School District's policy against misgendering -- the act of referring to another person by using pronouns that don't align with their identity -- "raises serious free-speech concerns" and discriminates "based on its students' viewpoints." The judges said the district failed to introduce evidence "that the use of biological pronouns would disrupt school functions or qualify as harassment." Watch a previous NBC4 report on the case in the video player above.
"Our society continues to debate whether biological pronouns are appropriate or offensive -- just as it continues to debate many other issues surrounding transgender rights," Thursday's ruling said. "The school district may not skew this debate by forcing one side to change the way it conveys its message or by compelling it to express a different view."
However, the judges noted that "the school district rightly responds that it has a duty to protect all students -- including transgender and nonbinary students -- from bullying and harassment," and said that "nothing we say here forecloses the district from enforcing its anti-harassment policies against the abuse of transgender students just as it enforces those policies against the abuse of all other students."
Attorney general asks Ohio’s top court to uphold gender transition billOlentangy schools has yet to respond to NBC4's request for comment on the ruling. A national conservative organization called Parents Defending Education has long argued the district's policies violate the First Amendment rights of religious students who "don't want to be forced to affirm" trans classmates.
"Common sense says that Olentangy's policies aren't helping students by compelling their peers to parrot words they don't really believe," said Cam Norris, the organization's attorney, when the 16-judge court heard arguments in the case in March. "They are harming them by teaching them that different world views should be silenced and banned, not understood and rebutted."
Olentangy schools noted during the March hearing that the policies haven't been used to discipline a student, and argued they're meant to protect all, not just those who are trans, from experiencing harassment. The district argued the policies are part of their duty to foster "a secure environment conducive to learning" and that they do not impede student discussions on their views of identity.
"The only thing they can't do is repeatedly make comments about these issues that are directed to a particular student, including be repeatedly and intentionally misgendering," said Jamie Santos, Olentangy's attorney. "Just because a student should be able to say that the body positivity movement is harmful and encourages obesity, doesn't mean a school has to allow that student to call a classmate fat."
Santos pointed to studies that show misgendering is harmful to trans students. Research from The Trevor Project found 49% of LGBTQ+ youth in the U.S. experienced bullying in the last year, and trans youth that said their school is affirming also reported lower rates of attempting suicide.
Out in Ohio: State’s first lesbian bar to live on in new documentary, ‘Free Beer Tomorrow’Ohio Solicitor General Elliot Gaiser also spoke during the hearing on behalf of 22 U.S. states who support Parents Defending Education, and reiterated concerns Olentangy could use the policies to punish students with opposing viewpoints. Gaiser said the district can't "treat one side of the debate as harassment or silence dissenters by labeling them bullies," and claimed students who use "biological pronouns" for trans classmates do so in the "most respectful way."
Parents Defending Education filed the complaint against the district in May 2023, which was initially rejected by a U.S. district court in August of that year. The group then appealed to the Sixth Circuit where a three-judge panel also rejected the suit in August 2024 and said the organization hadn't convincingly argued that the policies should be blocked, and noted students who don't want to use their classmates' preferred pronouns may refer to them using first names.
Shortly after, Parents Defending Education was joined by the 22 states in asking the Sixth Circuit to rehear the case. The Sixth Circuit then decided in early November 2024 it would revisit the suit with all 16 active judges on the court.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio also weighed in, filing an amicus brief last December that argued "neither the school nor the parent group got things entirely right," and said it agrees that the district cannot categorically ban or punish all instances of a student using a classmate's non-preferred pronouns. However, as a group committed to protecting LGBTQ students, the ACLU said some instances of misgendering are not immune from school discipline when they cause a disruption or create a hostile environment.
View Thursday's full ruling below.
Defending Education v. Olentangy Local School DistrictDownloadHence then, the article about central ohio school district can t discipline students who call trans classmates by biological pronouns court rules was published today ( ) and is available on NBC4 ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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