2y ago

Non-binary Florida teacher fired for using gender-neutral title

www.thepinknews.com

36 comments

History will not be kind to Florida
- History
  I'm pretty sure it's illegal to teach that in Florida.
  
  Only in the context of the truth.
- I'm currently visiting a friend in Florida, and frankly, the present isn't too kind to Florida either.
- Not if they ban history books /s
Now, Vary has filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which could prompt a legal challenge of the “Don’t Say Gay” law’s expansion.
Does this have any chance of doing anything? I'm very surprised at their boldness to document exactly why they were firing them - do they think they can withstand the legal challenge or are they just stupid? (it's always hard to guess with homophobes)
- The argument is going to be that it prohibits discrimination based on sex and not gender
- Theyre boundary testing like all sociopaths inevitably do.
If this does not violate some anti-discrimination laws that you are doing law wrong. I am fairly certain this would not be legal in my country.
- Last year a trans teacher in my country was not only removed but also libeled so badly she had to kill herself, the news were more or less like "see? she was actually mentally ill"... For those who don't remember, source but not for the faint of heart.
Is Mx. pronounced "Mix?"
- I'm all for gender-inclusive language and try to use it as much as possible (ie "mail person" instead of "mail man" and using "they" instead of defaulting to "he" when gender is unknown). But God am I tired of replacing everything with an X, haha.
  I'd just call them "teacher [last name]" like how college professors tend to go by "professor [last name]" and call it a day.
  
  Latinx is hated by the majority of Hispanic people because it's unpronounceable in Spanish, so you can drop that one.
  (Am Hispanic ftr, despise the term)
  
  I’m a nonbinary teacher. My students just call me by my last name with no honorific most of the time
- Yes
- Most commonly yes. There are other ways to pronounce it and I suppose if the person pronounces it differently I'd go with what they say.
- Guess this is why I like college. I just call everybody Professor and not risking strange looks or offending anybody.
  
  The article states that the teacher in question asked if they could go by professor, to which the principal said was in violation of the same law. Which means in Florida you cannot call a teacher professor, as it is gender neutral.
  
  Funnily enough, I think this depends on country. I'm in Australia and I've heard lecturers ask the class not to call them Professor since that is a title within the University (I'm guessing something similar to Captain in an Army). I think most couldn't care less, but I've had 1 or 2 ask in the first class not to use that title. So you can't win.
- Yes, it makes nonbinary people sound like rappers and I'm here for it
  (Plus every NB person I know has a name like "blue" or "sock", which makes it especially fun)
  
  How do they arrive at such bold names? I'm so jealous and yet... Perhaps not as brave either. I'm a transfem she/her rather than nonbinary.
Vary refused to go by the title “Ms”, and it was eventually decided that she would be fired – despite Florida’s ongoing teacher shortage crisis.
In an article that is focusing on gender identity, did Pink News mess up Vary's pronouns or am I missing something?
- Two months later still not fixed. Yep, they messed up.
any news on all the people at that school using "Dr" improperly who didn't get fired?

36 comments