Over the last two decades, more and more scientific evidence has mounted to indicate that gender isn’t a clear-cut matter of male and female, but rather a more fluid spectrum.
Neuroscientist Baudewijntje Kreukels told Nature that this can be observed in the brain itself, saying, “I don’t think there is something like a male or female brain, but it’s more a continuum.”
To provide just one example of such observations, The European Network for the Investigation of Gender Incongruence found that the brains of transgender boys who had recently begun testosterone treatments bore more resemblance to what would traditionally be considered cisgender male brains than cisgender female ones.
But despite increasing agreement among the scientific community and the public at large of this continuum’s validity, to say that everyone accepts it would be mischaracterizing the situation. And that reality is showing some serious conseqiences in one Virginia school.
Until last year, Peter Vlaming was a French teacher at West Point High School in West Point, Virginia.
As Buzzfeed News reported , Vlaming had met with a student, his mother, and a guidance counselor near the beginning of the school year.
What he found out from that meeting was that the student was in the process of transitioning.
Vlaming agreed to call this student by the name he would now use, but avoided the use of his pronouns entirely for a time.
As Buzzfeed News reported, however, Vlaming continued to use “she” and “her” pronouns while this student was not in earshot and did call him “her” on one in-class occasion.
Although Vlaming claimed this was accidental, the student cited repeated misgendering as his reason for withdrawing from the class.
By December, the school’s principal had directed Vlaming to use the preferred pronouns of students.
He refused to do this on the grounds that it would “violate his conscience” and the school board unanimously voted to fire him.
As would later be stated in his lawsuit, “Vlaming’s conscience and religious practice prevents him from intentionally lying, and he sincerely believes that referring to a female as a male by using an objectively male pronoun is telling a lie.”
Vlaming is currently seeking $1 million in damages and claims the school board discriminated against his religious beliefs.
One of his lawyers, Caleb Dalton, said tolerance is a “two-way street” and added, “He just didn’t want to be forced to use a pronoun that offends his conscience. That’s entirely reasonable, and it’s his constitutionally protected right.”
In response, a school representative told Buzzfeed News that the board “denies any liability to Mr. Vlaming, and we intend to vigorously defend against any claims.”
As the lawsuit goes on, West Point High School’s campus has featured protests like the one shown here demanding the school let Vlaming return to his position.
A GoFundMe page has also been started for his family, which has raised over $50,000 since last December.
h/t: BuzzFeed News