人兽性交

When Katie Wood interviewed for the position of math teacher at Lennard High School in Hillsborough County, Florida, in 2021, she told the principal that she was a transgender woman and wanted to work only in a school that would make her feel welcome.

鈥淚 told her that as a transgender woman, it鈥檚 really important that I work at a school that affirms me,鈥� Wood said.

The principal assured Wood that Lennard was that kind of school, and in August 2021, Wood, now 25, began her first paid teaching job out of college.

On her first day of class, she wrote 鈥淢s. Wood鈥� on the blackboard. She used 鈥渟he鈥� and 鈥渉er鈥� as pronouns consistent with her gender identity, and her students called her 鈥淢s. Wood.鈥� For the next two years, her fellow teachers, superiors and all other school staff called her 鈥淢s. Wood.鈥�

But the acceptance ended in the summer of 2023.

The prior May, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had signed , an expansion of the 2022 law known as 鈥淒on鈥檛 Say Gay.鈥� The statute prohibits public and charter schoolteachers from using pronouns and titles that don鈥檛 鈥渃orrespond鈥� to their sex assigned at birth. Teachers who violate the law can lose their jobs and teaching licenses. The law also bars any employee from being required to use a student鈥檚 pronouns if they do not match their sex assigned at birth.

The law took effect July 1, 2023, but Wood didn鈥檛 know about it until the school principal informed her of it after the school year started. At first, she resisted. She privately consulted several members of the school board, her principal and assistant principal.

鈥淓veryone told me it鈥檚 state law and there is nothing we can do,鈥� Wood said.

After the principal held a formal faculty meeting about the law, Wood felt she had no choice but to comply. She erased 鈥淢s. Wood鈥� from her blackboard and wrote, 鈥淭eacher Wood.鈥�

She is now a plaintiff in a Southern Poverty Law Center lawsuit 鈥� with co-counsel the and 鈥� filed this past December that challenges Subsection 3 of the law, which blocks transgender and nonbinary teachers from using their pronouns and titles. She is joined by two other Florida teachers, one of whom was fired for noncompliance.

鈥楿nconstitutional and unlawful鈥�

The complaint alleges that the state Department of Education, other state defendants and three school boards violated the teachers鈥� First Amendment right to free speech, the 14th Amendment鈥檚 guarantee of equal protection, and their rights under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sex. The complaint also alleges that the defendants violated the teachers鈥� rights under Title IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in schools.

鈥淭his case is part of a pattern of efforts such as book bans, bathroom restrictions, the 鈥楧on鈥檛 Say Gay鈥� law and many other measures by the current administration to delegitimize and drive out 人兽性交+ people from schools and life in Florida,鈥� said Sam Boyd, senior supervising attorney with the 人兽性交鈥檚 Democracy: Education & Youth litigation team.

鈥淲e think it鈥檚 important to make it clear that transgender people have just as much right to be teachers as anyone else, and it鈥檚 unconstitutional and unlawful to tell them that they can鈥檛 be themselves, which includes using the title and pronoun appropriate to their gender at work.鈥�

In April, U.S. District Judge Mark Walker granted Wood鈥檚 motion for a preliminary injunction that allows Wood to continue using her title and pronouns until the case is decided. The law continues to be in effect statewide.

Judge Walker began his decision by stating, 鈥淥nce again, the State of Florida has a First Amendment problem. Of late, it has happened so frequently, some might say you can set your clock by it.鈥� Toward the end of his sharply worded decision, he quoted Walt Whitman鈥檚 poem 鈥淪ong of Myself,鈥� writing that when Wood shares her preferred title and pronouns, she, like Whitman, 鈥渃elebrates herself and sings herself 鈥� not in a disruptive or coercive way, but in a way that subtly vindicates her identity, her dignity, and her humanity.鈥�

Earlier this month, the state Judge Walker鈥檚 decision to the 11^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, asserting that Subsection 3 is necessary to advance a 鈥渃urricular interest鈥� in teaching that a person鈥檚 sex at birth is 鈥渂inary, stable and unchangeable,鈥� and preventing 鈥渃onfusion鈥� by students.

As to Wood鈥檚 right to free speech, the state says that her use of her pronouns 鈥渦ndermines its educational mission鈥� and 鈥渕ay pose a substantial danger to the [school鈥檚] successful functioning.鈥�

Wood鈥檚 response to the state鈥檚 appeal is expected later this summer, and oral arguments on the appeal are scheduled for the week of Sept. 22. Meanwhile, proceedings in the trial court continue and trial is scheduled for 2025.

The 人兽性交+ community is terrified

For Wood, the experience has been eye-opening.

鈥淚 spent three-and-a-half, four years learning to love and accept myself, but before the preliminary injunction every time I made a mistake [in the classroom], I was full of anxiety that if I was reported I could lose my job,鈥� she said.

鈥淭he experience has made me realize how bigoted the state is and that this is a lot bigger than me. So, I had to make a decision: Do I just comply with something I know is wrong or do I do something? I decided that I鈥檓 not wrong. The state can鈥檛 deny my existence. I know I鈥檓 a woman. The law is hurting a lot of transgender people. They might not have the ability, strength and resolve that I do, so if I didn鈥檛 do something to fight the state, what kind of person would that make me?鈥�

Some live in Florida, but no one knows how many transgender teachers are among them.

Transgender rights attorney and 人兽性交 co-counsel Simone Chriss, director of the Transgender Rights Initiative at the , said that plaintiffs like Katie Wood constitute a very small number of people willing to have their lives publicized, scrutinized and 鈥渟ubjected to the invasive nature of being a plaintiff in federal litigation like this.鈥� As a result, most victims of gender discrimination in Florida schools decline to pursue a legal remedy.

鈥淭eachers are leaving the school system,鈥� said Chriss, who has been the target of death threats for her work. 鈥淥r they are going to other states or going back into the closet. And the teachers who people didn鈥檛 know were transgender are not coming out. This deprives students in Florida of the opportunity to see their lived experience reflected at school.鈥�

For parents of children with , the prospect of being at the center of a lawsuit against a conservative state is terrifying.

In 2022, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo 鈥� who became known nationally for about public health measures intended to fight COVID 鈥� issued a opposing gender-affirming care for youth and social transitioning, which is the term used when youth express their gender identity through clothing, appearance and possibly name and pronoun usage.

The following year, Florida banned gender-affirming medical care for minors, and imposed restrictions on this care for transgender adults, but a federal judge the ban and restrictions earlier this month.

And in , the attorney general issued an advisory saying that if parents allow gender-affirming care, they could be charged with child abuse and potentially lose their children.

鈥淚 can鈥檛 put into words the fear that parents in Florida have shared with me regarding the possibility of their children being taken away,鈥� Chriss said. 鈥淭hey fear Florida will go the way of Texas in terms of punishing affirming and supportive parents of trans youth. Some are homeschooling their children; some are fearful to allow their children to dress in accordance with their gender identity because they fear they will be reported to the Department of Children and Families. Some have even decided not to allow their adolescent to access gender-affirming care even though the adolescent鈥檚 doctor says it鈥檚 medically necessary for the treatment of their gender dysphoria. Talk about the epitome of government overreach 鈥� for a state that holds itself out as being profoundly concerned about 鈥榩arents鈥� rights,鈥� this administration is stripping parents of transgender adolescents of the fundamental right to make medical decisions for their own children.鈥�

Boyd of the 人兽性交 also warns of dire consequences if the Florida Legislature isn鈥檛 stopped in its quest to criminalize its 人兽性交+ community.

鈥淥ther states will follow and go even further,鈥� Boyd said. 鈥淕ov. Abbott of Texas has already that transgender women teachers should be forced to wear men鈥檚 clothing in school, and one state legislator there has gone even further, describing all transgender teachers as who should not be allowed to teach.鈥�

Such stigmatizing tropes have taken on a life of their own among conservatives in the past few years. Chriss noted that many of the transgender and nonbinary children she works with are being bullied by their peers with the same vilifying language that conservatives, including , have used during discussion of the state鈥檚 2023 so-called 鈥�,鈥� when he called transgender people 鈥溾�� and 鈥渄emons and imps.鈥� The law prohibits the use of certain government-owned bathrooms by people whose sex assigned at birth is not aligned with their gender identity.

鈥淭he idea that, in the year 2024, fourth grade students are being called 鈥榞roomers鈥� and 鈥榩edophiles鈥� by their peers is unconscionable,鈥� Chriss said. 鈥淭his is the same language that was used to demonize and dehumanize us as gays and lesbians in Florida, and it has resurged due to the shameful rhetoric being used by our lawmakers. The transgender community is just the newest scapegoat being used to mobilize a base of people who need to be angry and distracted by things they don鈥檛 understand.鈥�

鈥榃e still exist鈥�

While the lawsuit against the state winds through the courts, Wood continues to advocate on behalf of the 人兽性交+ community.

As a volunteer for , she participated in at the beginning of the recent legislative session, when she and fellow advocates spoke with allied legislators on upcoming legislation they wanted defeated. By the session鈥檚 end, were defeated or rendered ineffective.

Yet her overriding focus remains her students 鈥� while acknowledging that if she and her fellow plaintiffs win, 鈥渋t would be really cool to be part of that in a small way.鈥�

Lennard High School is located in the small, unincorporated, agricultural town of Ruskin, 30 minutes to the south of booming Tampa. About 43% of are Latinx, with the rest about an equal mix of white and non-Latinx students of color. Because Lennard is a Title I high school, 80% or more of the students qualify for free school lunch.

鈥淢y students struggle 鈥� especially since the pandemic 鈥� because learning is an acquired skill,鈥� Wood said. 鈥淪o not only do I have to teach them math, but I have to teach them how to learn and also help them express their feelings in a positive way, because they have many disagreements in school. It鈥檚 a huge responsibility.鈥�

鈥淭he state can continue to pass anti-人兽性交+ laws, but they won鈥檛 be successful,鈥� Wood said, 鈥渂ecause we still exist. The law hurts my identity, it hurts my heart, my self-confidence; it makes me sad, depressed, but it鈥檚 also going to lead to real kids killing themselves.鈥�

From left: People take part in the Trans Pride March in Portland, Oregon, on June 16, 2018. The march is organized annually by Greater Portland Trans Unity. (Credit: Alex Milan Tracy/Sipa USA)