'HUGE Win': CA Judge reinstates teachers who refused to keep students' 'gender identity' secret

ESCONDIDO, CA — A federal judge ruled last week that two California teachers who were placed on administrative leave last year should be reinstated. The teachers were disciplined in May of 2023 for refuding to hide gender transitions from parents.

Teachers Elizabeth Mirabelli and Lori Ann West filed a lawsuit against the Escondido Union School District (EUSD) and the California State Board of Education in April last year, which alleged that one of the district's policies required educators to "hide a child’s preferred pronouns and gender identity if a student asks."

In September 2023, Roger Benitez, Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, issued a preliminary injunction against the district, disallowing the policy's enforcement. He stated that the "new policy appears to undermine [the teacher's] own constitutional rights while it conflicts with knowledgeable medical opinion." 

Last week, Benitez weighed in on the matter again and told the school to get the teachers back in the classroom by Tuesday, January 15.

In September, Benitez blocked EUSD from forcing them to comply with their policy to "socially transition" kids to different gender identities without parental knowledge.

“Both sides are expected to work in good faith going forward to resolve this matter,” Benitez wrote last week in his decision.

The teachers were, of course, pleased with the ruling. “I’m shocked! I’m still processing. I cannot believe it,” West stated.

The issue of gender identity and schools has been front and center in California. Attorney General Rob Bonta sued the Chino Hills School District in August of 2023 following a vote by the board requiring teachers to inform parents of changes to students' preferred gender. 

"Parents erupted in cheers when the Chino Valley School Board voted 4 to 1 last month to adopt the policy requiring schools to notify parents when their child seeks to identify or be treated as a gender other than their biological one," said X profile Kanekoa the Great.

“It's been our position that any policy that allows a school to keep secrets from the parents regarding their children violates the parental rights since protected by the U.S. Constitution,” said constitutional lawyer and member of the National Center for Law & Policy, Dean Broyles.