A California middle school teacher who sued her school for its alleged policy of keeping students’ gender identity a secret from parents said she had to go on administrative leave for the rest of the year after being harassed at school.
Elizabeth Mirabelli and fellow teacher Lori Ann West, both of whom have taught for decades at Rincon Middle School in Escondido, filed a federal lawsuit against the school’s leadership in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California on April 27 after the women claimed they were effectively required to lie to parents about their children if they assumed a different gender identity in school.
Since filing the lawsuit with the help of attorneys at the nonprofit Thomas More Society, Mirabelli claims she has been maligned as sexist, racist, homophobic, hater, “old hag” and against transgender people and potentially responsible for their suicide, according to a sworn statement filed Monday.
Claiming she was “very afraid of bullying and retaliation” if she were to speak up against the school policy, Mirabelli said “my fears were proven justified” after she and West filed their lawsuit.
MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHERS ISSUES DIRE WARNING AMID CLAIMS SHE WAS FORCED TO HIDE STUDENT’S GENDER IDENTITY
On her first day back teaching after the filing, Mirabelli noted that other teachers were “conspicuously” wearing rainbow Pride colors in an apparent protest of her case.
“It also seemed to me that various teachers were spreading false rumors about this lawsuit and what it is about,” Mirabelli wrote. “For me, this lawsuit is about not stepping between parents and their children. That relationship is sacred. I never want to deceive parents or teach children that it is okay to lie to their parents. At its most basic, I cannot provide the moral example to children that it is okay to hide important matters from their parents.”
“As stated above, I teach seventh graders,” she added. “They are predominantly 12-year-old children.”
SCHOOL REQUIRED…
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