6th Circuit Rules Cis Students May Bully Trans Students By Repeatedly Misgendering Them
From Erin in the Morning
The Circuit also seemed to suggest that trans students could not misgender their bullies in return.
In a devastating ruling for transgender students across Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has held that cisgender students may repeatedly and intentionally misgender their transgender peers in the classroom, striking down an Ohio school board’s policy that prohibited the practice. The court drew no distinction between accidental misuse and targeted, ongoing harassment, concluding that even that conduct does not “materially and substantially” disrupt school activities—the threshold that would allow schools to intervene. In doing so, the panel elevated what it called “biological pronouns,” a term with no prior grounding in U.S. caselaw. The decision also seems to bar transgender students from misgendering their cisgender bullies in return. The result is a newly recognized right to bully transgender students in the 6th Circuit, achieved by reframing their identities as a “political topic” rather than acknowledging the clear and harmful disruption this conduct causes.
Read more at the link: 6th Circuit Rules Cis Students May Bully Trans Students By Repeatedly Misgendering Them
Kat Fitzgerald (she/her)
The Circuit also seemed to suggest that trans students could not misgender their bullies in return.
In a devastating ruling for transgender students across Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has held that cisgender students may repeatedly and intentionally misgender their transgender peers in the classroom, striking down an Ohio school board’s policy that prohibited the practice. The court drew no distinction between accidental misuse and targeted, ongoing harassment, concluding that even that conduct does not “materially and substantially” disrupt school activities—the threshold that would allow schools to intervene. In doing so, the panel elevated what it called “biological pronouns,” a term with no prior grounding in U.S. caselaw. The decision also seems to bar transgender students from misgendering their cisgender bullies in return. The result is a newly recognized right to bully transgender students in the 6th Circuit, achieved by reframing their identities as a “political topic” rather than acknowledging the clear and harmful disruption this conduct causes.
Read more at the link: 6th Circuit Rules Cis Students May Bully Trans Students By Repeatedly Misgendering Them
Kat Fitzgerald (she/her)
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