A Virginia school board has agreed to pay $575,000 in damages and attorney fees to Peter Vlaming, a former high school teacher who was dismissed for refusing to use male pronouns to refer to a transgender student. Vlaming had taught French at West Point High School for nearly a decade before being placed on administrative leave in 2018.
Initially, Vlaming sought to accommodate the student by using the student’s preferred masculine name while avoiding pronouns altogether. However, school officials insisted that he refer to the student using pronouns inconsistent with her biological sex. After he “accidentally” used a feminine pronoun in class, the school board unanimously voted to terminate his employment.
Vlaming filed a lawsuit against the school board, arguing that his rights were violated under the Virginia Constitution and state law. He contended that his religious beliefs prevented him from “intentionally lying,” claiming that referring to a female as a male by using an objectively male pronoun constituted a lie.
While a lower court initially dismissed the case, the Virginia Supreme Court later reinstated the lawsuit in 2021, ruling that Vlaming’s rights had been violated. In the majority opinion, Justice D. Arthur Kelsey emphasized the importance of protecting diversity of thought, speech, and religion, asserting that a government committed to these principles cannot compel citizens to endorse ideological views that conflict with their sincerely held beliefs.
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a non-profit legal organization that represented Vlaming, stated that he was fired not for his speech but for his inability to convey a message he believed to be untrue. ADF Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer remarked that the school board infringed upon Vlaming’s First Amendment rights under Virginia law.
As part of the settlement, the West Point School Board has agreed to clear Vlaming’s record of the dismissal and update its policies to align with new Virginia education policies established by Governor Glenn Youngkin, which support free speech and parental rights.
Vlaming expressed gratitude for the legal support he received, stating, “I was wrongfully fired from my teaching job because my religious beliefs put me on a collision course with school administrators who mandated that teachers ascribe to only one perspective on gender identity.” He hopes that his case will help protect the fundamental rights of other educators.
