A Christian Teacher, Peter Vlaming, lost his job for refusing to use male pronouns for a biological female student some time ago. However, Vlaming did not take this lightly. He went to court to file a lawsuit against the West Point School Board in Virginia.
According to his suit, Vlaming claims that it violated his freedom to demand that he use such pronouns for the student. He also stated that it was against his beliefs to refer to a biological female as a male.
Furthermore, his faith says that “sex is fixed in each person, and that it cannot be changed, regardless of feelings or desires.” After he filed his initial lawsuit to the Circuit Court for the County of King William, they dismissed his case.
However, ADF attorneys and allied attorney Shawn Voyles appealed his case to the Virginia Supreme Court. Not long after he presented his case to them, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled in favor of Peter Vlaming.
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According to the court documents, the school board was guilty on two counts. They violated the Virginia state constitution and the Virginia Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Furthermore, the court stated that the West Point board cannot force individuals to include specific content in their speech.
This includes inclusive language or gender-fluid language, especially when it is against their faith. The Virginia constitution also states that “religion can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; therefore, all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience.”
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Therefore, they should allow Vlaming to practice his faith without punishment or fear. Justice D. Arthur of the Virginia Supreme Court also wrote, “Absent a truly compelling reason for doing so, no government committed to these [founding] principles [of the state and nation] can lawfully coerce its citizens into pledging verbal allegiance to ideological views that violate their sincerely held religious beliefs.”
Therefore, the court believes that they fired Vlaming unjustly. Many Christians believe this is a win for religious liberty and fundamental human rights. The state should allow everyone to practice their religion without enforcing other beliefs.
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They also believe the state should not “direct” Vlaming to use pronouns that his faith teaches him are “objectively untrue.” After he won the case, it is unclear if Vlaming will get his job back or not. The court also didn’t publicly announce his compensation, if any.
The Christian community has praised Vlaming in several ways. Some websites have articles of him calling him the man who “stood for Christ.” They believe he did a great thing by standing firm. So, they applauded him for not giving in to “worldly demands” and keeping his faith strong.
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