Faithwire
  • Watch
  • Go!
  • Podcasts
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • News
  • Politics
  • Coronavirus Updates
  • Faith
  • Opinion
  • Christmas
  • Set Free Course

Virginia Supreme Court Hands Major Victory to Christian Teacher Suspended for Opposing Trans Policy

Twitter screenshot
Twitter screenshot
Share Tweet
By Tré Goins-Phillips
Editor

September 1, 2021

This was a good week for Tanner Cross.

The Virginia Supreme Court handed Cross, a physical education teacher at Leesburg Elementary School in northern Virginia, a major victory Monday, when it agreed his suspension for opposing a leftist transgender policy was likely a violation of his constitutional rights.

Cross first garnered national attention in May, when he said during a meeting that he opposed a Loudoun County Public Schools policy requiring district faculty to affirm students’ chosen gender identities by using their preferred pronouns — irrespective of biological sex — as well as allowing kids to participate in activities that correlate with their selected identities.

LISTEN TO TODAY’S PODCAST AND SUBSCRIBE:

To comply with such a policy, the educator said, would violate his beliefs.

“It’s lying to a child,” Cross said of the transgender-affirming rule. “It’s abuse to a child, and it’s sinning against our God.”

The Christian teacher was suspended after delivering his remarks. In response, Cross filed a lawsuit and, just a few days later, Loudoun County Circuit Court Judge James Plowman reinstated the teacher, calling the district’s suspension of his duties “unnecessary and vindictive.”

LCPS pressed forward regardless, intending to take the case to the Supreme Court. The district claimed students’ “rights … to be educated in a supportive and nurturing environment” overshadows Cross’ personal rights.

In a 14-page decision, the Virginia Supreme Court argued otherwise.

The suggestion that Cross’ views “might harm children” cannot be used to “justify his swift suspension,” the state’s high court ruled, explaining:

Cross was opposing a policy that might burden his freedoms of expression and religion by requiring him to speak and interact with students in a way that affirms gender transition, a concept he rejects for secular and spiritual reasons. Under such circumstances, Cross’ interest in making his public comments was compelling.

Although the Board may have considered Cross’ speech to be “a trifling and annoying instance of individual distasteful abuse of a privilege,” we believe Cross has a strong claim to the view that his public dissent implicates “fundamental societal values” deeply embedded in our Constitutional Republic.

All three of the school district’s arguments in appeal were rejected.

***As the number of voices facing big-tech censorship continues to grow, please sign up for Faithwire’s daily newsletter and download the CBN News app, developed by our parent company, to stay up-to-date with the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***

Latest

  • News

    ‘Miracle’ Landing: Florida Pilot Passes Out — Passenger with No Flight Experience Takes Over with ‘Hand of God’

  • Entertainment

    Marvel’s ‘Scarlet Witch’ Actress Reveals Her Real-Life Connections to Witchcraft, Says She’s ‘Witchy’

  • News

    ‘A Psychological Prison’: Taliban’s Latest Demand Leaves Women in Tears as Afghanistan Reels in Poverty, Desperation

  • News

    New Warner/Discovery President ‘Un-Cancels’ JK Rowling After She Was Sidelined for Defending Women Amid Transgender Craze

  • Life

    ‘A God Thing’: They Adopted a Severely Handicapped Baby Despite Doctors’ Warnings, and It Changed Everything


Navigation

  • Watch
  • Go!
  • Podcasts
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Staff
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram

Subscribe to the Newsletter

Sign up to get our newsletter your inbox every day.

Newsletter Signup

Do you want to read
more articles like this?