A United States Appeals court has ruled that schools cannot compel students to use pronouns that they do not wish to. This is a significant victory for biological reality, common sense, and freedom of speech.
The case began after a school district in Ohio insisted that all students must use the pronouns that trans or non-binary students demanded of them. Parents and students objected, saying that they should be allowed to use the pronouns of their choice and, at the very least, not be compelled to speak in a certain way.
The appeals court has sided clearly with the parents and students, noting that students cannot be compelled to speak in particular ways, especially when it involves a matter of contestation. Interestingly, the judges were quick to stress that the attempts of the school district and trans-activists to force pronoun use were coercive and sought to skew the debate. As one of the judges wrote:
“The school district may not skew this debate by forcing one side to change the way it conveys its message or by compelling it to express a different view”
Another judge, in support of the ruling, went further, writing:
“Although the newly emergent pronoun regulators wear a variety of attire and target a diverse range of dissenters, they all use similar tactics. Like the school board here, they seek to wield their authority to compel speech or demand silence from citizens who disagree with the regulators’ politically controversial preferred new form of grammar. It is a power play entirely without precedent in American history.”
We see the same dynamics here in New Zealand, with various activists and groups seeking to compel and force speech to skew the debate in their favour. While this is a judgment in the United States, it should encourage New Zealanders to hold their ground in such debates – to speak freely and express biological reality. Just as with the United States, trans-activism in New Zealand seeks to maintain its position not by rational argument, but by force and compulsion.
The case is known as Defending Education vs. Olentangy Local School District Board of Education and can be found here.
*Written by Family First staff writers*
