Christian teacher sues Massillon school after refusing to use gender-confused pronouns

MASSILLON — A former English teacher claims she was forced to quit her job after she claimed that it violates her religious beliefs to use students’ preferred pronouns.

Vivian Geraghty, 24, filed a federal court lawsuit against Jackson Memorial Middle School, Principal Kacy Carter, Superintendent Christopher DiLoreto, and Curriculum Director Monica Myers. The Christian public school teacher filed a federal lawsuit against her former employer after it forced her out for refusing to support gender-confused children in their “social transition” by using their chosen pronouns and names.

“One student also asked to be referenced with pronouns inconsistent with the student’s sex,” the lawsuit stated. Yet, Vivian Geraghty appeared to follow the same policy that Principal Carter himself stated he followed – to avoid using someone’s pronouns if it conflicted with their actual sex.

When the teacher asked Principal Carter how to handle this situation, the principal himself said “his own practice was to refrain from using any pronouns to refer to students who express gender identities inconsistent with their sex.” The lawsuit also noted that Carter “was initially unable to tell Ms. Geraghty exactly what her obligations were.”

Myers, the curriculum and instruction director for the district, soon after joined Carter and Geraghty in a meeting. Myers told the teacher she must “set [her] religious convictions aside,” and then Principal Carter order her to write up a resignation letter, effectively firing her.

The defendants “continue to maintain a Policy requiring teachers to participate in the ‘social transition’ of students who express a ‘gender identity’ inconsistent with their sex by using names and pronouns consistent with the ‘gender identity’ and inconsistent with the students’ legal name and sex,” according to the lawsuits. Myers and Carter effectively fired Geraghty by forcing her to resign over her decision to not comply with the policy due to her religious beliefs.

“Jackson Local School District officials require their teachers to immediately and personally validate a child’s gender transition even if doing so violates their religious beliefs, conscience, or sound judgment,” said Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer, director of the ADF Center for Academic Freedom.

“Increasing evidence suggests that this approach may lead adolescents to unnecessarily pursue dangerous medical interventions like puberty-blocking drugs, cross-sex hormones, or life-altering surgeries. Vivian treated every student with equality and respect, and it was unlawful for school officials to terminate her employment simply because she wanted to avoid using her voice to validate ideas that violate her faith and jeopardize her students’ wellbeing.”

“Ms. Geraghty also believes she cannot affirm as true those ideas and concepts that she believes are not true,” the lawsuit states. “Doing so, she believes, would violate biblical commands against dishonesty and lying.”

The English teacher objects to supporting students who are still developing in beginning the process of embracing gender ideology and transgenderism. She opposes “social transition” efforts and does not believe it is honest to refer to a female student with male pronouns nor a male student with female pronouns, the lawsuit states.

In a similar case last year, Shawnee State University settled and paid a Christian Philosophy Professor $400,000 in damages and attorneys fees after disciplining him for using the wrong pronoun when addressing a transgender student who wanted to be referred to as a female. 

The Bottom Line:

The Bible says in Romans Chapter Two, “They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when , according to my gospel, GOD judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.”

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