Tanner Cross got the last laugh.
The Leesburg Elementary School physical education teacher from northern Virginia was handed a decisive victory on Monday when the Virginia Supreme Court agreed that his suspension for opposing a progressive gender policy was likely unconstitutional.
Cross first made headlines in June after he was placed on administrative leave in late May for voicing opposition to a Loudoun County Public Schools policy that requires school faculty to affirm far-left transgender policies, such as using a student's preferred pronouns and allowing "gender-expansive and transgender students" to participate in activities consistent with their "gender identity."
Cross argued the policy violated his religious beliefs. "It's lying to a child, it's abuse to a child, and it's sinning against our God," he said of the policy.
Suspended Virginia teacher reinstated after comments about transgender students www.youtube.com
In June, Cross filed a lawsuit challenging his suspension. Days later, Loudoun County Circuit Court Judge James E. Plowman Jr. reinstated Cross, calling the Christian teacher's suspension "unnecessary and vindictive."
But the Loudoun County Public Schools continued to fight, vowing to take the case to the state Supreme Court. The school district claimed "the rights of students to be educated in a supportive and nurturing environment" outweighed Cross' First Amendment rights to free speech and free exercise of religion.
The commonwealth's highest court explained in a 14-page opinion that the judges did not buy the claim that Cross "might harm children" by not affirming far-left gender ideas, but did believe the school district violated Cross' rights.
"Cross was opposing a policy that might burden his freedoms of expression and religion by requiring him to speak and interact with students in a way that affirms gender transition, a concept he rejects for secular and spiritual reasons. Under such circumstances, Cross' interest in making his public comments was compelling," the court said.
"Although the Board may have considered Cross' speech to be 'a trifling and annoying instance of individual distasteful abuse of a privilege,' we believe Cross has a strong claim to the view that his public dissent implicates 'fundamental societal values' deeply embedded in our Constitutional Republic," the court explained.
The school district had made three arguments in its appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court, all of which were rejected.
Loudoun County Public Schools did not comment on the ruling, according WRC-TV, or the unilateral rejection of its claims by the high court.
However, the Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented Cross, celebrated the ruling.
"Teachers shouldn't be forced to promote ideologies that are harmful to their students and that they believe are false, nor should they be silenced for commenting at a public meeting. The lower court's decision was a well-reasoned application of the facts to clearly established law, as the Virginia Supreme Court found," ADF senior counsel Tyson Langhofer said. "Public employees cannot be forced to contradict their core beliefs just to keep a job."
Cross will now return to his job as a PE teacher, the Washington Post noted.
A Virginia school district is determined to punish a Christian physical education teacher who dared to speak out in opposition to the school's new transgender-affirming policies.
Last month, in response to a judge's order reinstating the teacher, Tanner Cross, Loudoun County Public Schools filed an appeal to that decision and vowed to take the case to the Virginia Supreme Court, WUSA-TV reported.
The controversy began in May, when Cross, a teacher at Leesburg Elementary, defiantly but respectfully declared during a school board meeting that he would not "lie" to his students and "defile" God by affirming that "a biological boy can be a girl and vice versa."
Cross's declaration came in response to two new policies set forth by the school district that required all staff to use a student's preferred gender pronouns and permitted transgender students to participate in activities based on their gender identity, rather than their biological sex.
In the speech, Cross made it clear that he loves all of his students but that he "serves God first," and to mislead students about their gender identity would be "against [his] religion."
"It's lying to a child, it's abuse to a child, and it's sinning against our God," he explained.
In response, the school district placed him on administrative leave for engaging in "disruptive" conduct. As part of the suspension, Cross was reportedly barred from school grounds and prohibited from attending any school district events.
But Cross, believing that his constitutional rights to free speech and free exercise of religion had been trampled, fought back with a legal challenge and won. In June, a Virginia judge reinstated Cross, calling the school district's decision to suspend him as "unnecessary and vindictive."
Only days later, however, the school district dug its heels in and filed an appeal, seeking to keep Cross suspended.
"Many students and parents at Leesburg Elementary have expressed fear, hurt, and disappointment about coming to school," the district said in a statement. "While LCPS respects the rights of public-school employees to free speech and free exercise of religion, those rights do not outweigh the rights of students to be educated in a supportive and nurturing environment."
The story, which has now become a back-and-forth saga, has garnered national attention. But the primary toll is laid on the local community.
Fox News reported that during a fiery June 22 board meeting, "numerous residents spoke out in defense of Cross during the public comment portion and urged district officials to stop fighting him in court – calling it a waste of taxpayer money and arguing that their effort is doomed to fail."
Cross is being represented by the religious liberty law firm, Alliance Defending Freedom, in the case.
Tanner Cross and Tyson Langhofer on Fox News' 'America Reports' www.youtube.com
A Virginia judge has reinstated a Christian elementary school teacher who was suspended by his school district after voicing opposition to the district's new transgender-affirming policies.
In a decision issued Tuesday, Judge James E. Plowman Jr. granted Tanner Cross a temporary injunction and ordered that he be immediately reinstated by Loudoun County Public Schools, according to the Alliance Defending Freedom, the legal firm representing the teacher.
In the ruling, Plowman called the district's suspension of Cross "unnecessary and vindictive."
Cross, a physical education teacher at Leesburg Elementary School, filed a lawsuit against the district last week after he was placed on administrative leave and barred from school property following a speech he gave at a school board meeting.
During the speech, Cross cited his Christian faith in declaring he refused to "lie" to his students and "defile" God by affirming that "a biological boy can be a girl and vice versa," as would be required by a pair of new "gender-expansive" district rules.
The policies require all district staff to use a student's preferred gender pronouns and permitted transgender students to participate in activities consistent with their gender identity, rather than their biological sex.
In a tweet following the court ruling, ADF called the news "massive victory for free speech."
BREAKING: Tanner Cross, a Virginia elementary school teacher and ADF client who was suspended for raising concerns… https://t.co/Vj24sv211n
— Alliance Defending Freedom (@AllianceDefends) 1623164477.0
ADF founder and CEO Michael Farris added in a statement: "Nobody should be punished for expressing concern about a proposed government policy, especially when the government invites comment on that policy. For that reason, we are pleased at the court's decision to halt Loudoun County Public Schools' retaliation against Tanner Cross while his lawsuit continues. Educators are just like everybody else — they have ideas and opinions that they should be free to express."
The district had argued that it wasn't Cross' speech that led to his suspension; rather, it was the fact that his speech supposedly caused a disruption at the school.
But upon investigating the matter, the court found minimal evidence to back up the district's claim, noting that just six parents called into the district airing grievances.
Besides, the court ruled, Cross' speech was constitutionally protected because he was "speaking as a citizen, not in his official capacity" and "during non-working hours" at "a forum where public comment was invited."
"It is further apparent that the subject matter upon which the Plaintiff spoke can only be described as a 'matter of public concern,'" Plowman wrote.
Fox News Special Report - Mike Emanuel Reports on Tanner Cross www.youtube.com
A Christian physical education teacher is fighting back after his Virginia school district suspended him for voicing opposition to newly implemented transgender-affirming policies that he said violated his religious beliefs.
Tanner Cross, who teaches at Leesburg Elementary School, was placed on administrative leave by Loudon County Public Schools last week after he declared in a speech before the school board that he would not "defile" God and "lie" to his students by affirming that "a biological boy can be a girl and vice versa.
During the speech, Cross calmly and respectfully explained that it would be a violation of his religious beliefs for him to abide by the new reforms — which require staff to use a student's preferred gender pronouns and allows transgender students to participate in activities consistent with their gender identity rather than their biological sex.
"It's lying to a child, it's abuse to a child, and it's sinning against our God," he said.
Shortly after he delivered the speech, Cross was informed by the district that he had been placed on administrative leave "pending an investigation of allegations that [he] engaged in conduct that had a disruptive impact on the operations of Leesburg Elementary School."
As a part of the suspension, Cross was restricted from accessing the buildings and grounds of Loudon County Public Schools property and barred from attending any district-sponsored activities or events.
On Tuesday, Cross filed a lawsuit against the district in response to their actions, according to Alliance Defending Freedom, the law firm representing him in the case.
ADF reported that it sent a letter to the district on Friday "explaining that placing Tanner on leave and barring him from campus because of his constitutionally protected speech constituted illegal retaliation." The firm requested that Tanner be reinstated and warned the district that future retaliation would elicit legal action.
But in response, the district said it stood by its decision to suspend Tanner and would not reinstate him prior to completion of the investigation, prompting the lawsuit to be brought.
"Public schools have no business compelling teachers to express ideological beliefs that they don't hold, nor do they have the right to suspend someone simply for respectfully providing their opinion at a public meeting," ADF senior counsel Tyson Langhofer said in a statement.
"The school district favors a certain set of beliefs on a hotly contested issue, and it wants to force Tanner to cry uncle and endorse them as well. That's neither legal nor constitutional, and neither was the school's move to place Tanner on leave," he added.
Loudoun County teacher put on administrative leave after speaking to the school board. youtu.be
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