Let’s Face It, They Hate Our Guts

They try to do everything they can for force us back in the closet and make us criminals. They are fighting for the right to be bigots and discriminate against us.

ADF defends Indiana teacher who rejected his district’s transgender-inclusive policy
The Indiana orchestra teacher is trying to appeal his own resignation.
ThinkProgress
By Zack Ford
June 15, 2018

The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), an anti-LGBTQ hate group, has pounced on yet another opportunity to advocate against transgender students in schools. This time, ADF is defending an Indiana orchestra teacher who resigned rather than comply with his school’s policy requiring him to respect the gender identities of his students.

Last year, the Brownsburg Community School Corporation (BCSC) distributed new guidance to its high school and middle school teachers about transgender students. It instructed teachers that for students who have transitioned, their new information will be updated in the school database and teachers are expected to address them by the names and pronouns that are listed. This practice, the district noted, is “based on current case law” — likely referring to a recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit respecting a Wisconsin transgender student’s identity.

In response to a question about the legal consequences of not addressing students properly, the guidance warns, “lt is your professional responsibility to follow the expectations and guidelines set forth by the school district. The consequences in this case could depend on if this is the first time and/or the intent in calling the student the wrong name/pronoun.”

But John Kluge, the former orchestra teacher didn’t follow the policy he claimed that it was his right to belittle, embarrass, and humiliate the student. He thumbed his nose at the policy by taking advantage of a loophole in the policy, he started calling the students by their last name. So the school…

As the end of the school year approached, the district informed Kluge that if he was unwilling to comply with the policy moving forward, his only choices were to resign or be fired. He chose to submit his letter of resignation, but he later attempted to withdraw the letter. It was too late, however, as the school had already begun processing his resignation.

So now it is off to court.

Kluge is now threatening legal action with ADF at his back. ADF has activated (at least) two of its allied lawyers in Indiana, Roscoe Stovall and Michael Cork, to represent him pro bono. Indeed, he and his lawyers have also been engaged in a national media campaign to paint him as a victim for his unwillingness to follow the policy.

I hope that the school board seeks reimbursement of their legal expenses.

In Medium Vanessa Ford explained the harm to the student.

One thing has remained true each year I’ve worked in education: Every student has an abundance of unique beliefs, experiences, cultures, passions and fears that lay just below the surface. Valuing, honoring and respecting these pieces that make my students who they are have always been the most critical factor to building a trusting relationship that ensures they can be successful in my class.
[…]
In truth, he’s likely doing more harm to his students than good. Not only is he denying transgender students a welcoming classroom, but he’s signaling a lack of respect for transgender students to every other student. Many transgender children will spend far too long ashamed of their own selves and who they know themselves to be. Each time that fear is reinforced — especially by educators — it gashes their youth wide open, leaving painful scars.

These bigots do not care about the students, they hide their hate behind their “religion” and I would bet that many are gleeful over the harm they are doing their students.

We are winning in the courts now, but what is going to happen when Trump and the Republicans saturate the courts with judges how put the Bible before the Constitution?