A Christian school teacher in Virginia has been fired for using the correct gender pronoun to refer to a student. He was literally fired for referring to a girl as a “she.” Seriously. But now, as word spreads, outrage and confusion about the persecution is spreading in the community and across America. And there may be legal implications for the blatant anti-Christian bigotry.
After a four-hour kangaroo hearing, the West Point School Board voted unanimously last week to dismiss West Point High School French teacher Peter Vlaming. His supposed crime: a religious objection to playing along with the dangerous and objectively incorrect delusions of a female student who claimed to be “transgender” and wanted to be referred to using male pronouns.
“We do not and cannot tolerate discrimination in any form, or actions that create a hostile environment for any member of our school family,” the board said in its statement discriminating against the teacher over his religion. “Mr. Vlaming was asked repeatedly, over several weeks and by multiple administrators, to address a student by the pronouns with which this student identifies.”
But the board wanted to be clear that this was no accident on Vlaming’s part. “The issue before us was not one mistaken slip of the tongue. Mr. Vlaming consistently refused to comply going forward — including in a statement made at the hearing — a willful violation of school board policy.” West Point schools Superintendent Laura Abel added that the teacher’s stance created a “hostile learning environment.”
For his part, Vlaming pointed to his faith, saying he could not in good conscious participate in encouraging or enabling the idea that individuals choose their gender. As a compromise measure, he offered to simply refer to the student by her name and avoid female pronouns. But school officials were having none of it — gender ideology uber alles!
“That is not tolerance,” said Vlaming, a father of four. “That is coercion.”
More than a few people have pointed out that the school does not even have a policy on gender pronouns.
The American Family Association, which is urging the school board to reinstate the teacher, slammed the discrimination. “The school clearly has a double standard since it has no policy regarding the use of gender pronouns for students, but its hiring policy specifically states it does not discriminate against teachers based on their religious beliefs,” said AFA President Tim Wildmon.
Even many students were outraged, with about 100 walking out of class to protest the bizarre ordeal. “What do we want? Justice,” they chanted. “When do we want it? Now!”
“He’s a really nice guy, he wanted to do everything about his students. He really does care about his students,” explained West Point High School junior Forrest Rohde. “The thing he will not do is change his ways of thoughts and believing in things just to conform to someone else’s ideologies. I see this stuff on the news far away from here, but when it hits close to home and someone’s free speech is being violated, I have to step in and say something about it.”
This is the direction that government schools all across America are heading. The danger to children, freedom, and the future of America should be obvious. Every American has a responsibility to get involved in this battle, and that begins with protecting one’s own children from the gender fanatics running government schools.
