Anti-LGBTQ+ hate group takes Ohio middle school teacher’s case to trial over legal names and pronouns

In August 2022, two students at Jackson Memorial Middle School requested to be called by names other than the names listed on teacher Vivian Geraghty’s official class roster.

Based on her religious beliefs as a Christian, the English and Language Arts teacher refused – telling school administrators that addressing students by names that differ from their legal names would require her to “violate biblical commands against dishonesty and lying.”

According to court documents, Geraghty specifically took issue with the concept of individual gender identity and the general elements that often comprise a social gender transition, including a change in name, pronouns, clothing or personal appearance.

Within hours, Geraghty tendered her resignation – alleging she was “forced” to do so by school administrators.

By Christmas, she had retained legal representation filed a lawsuit against the schoolalleging “ongoing” and “irreparable harm” as a result of the students’ requests.

Nearly two years later, a federal judge has ordered a trial – finding that requiring Geraghty to address students by a name that differs from the legal name amounted to “compelled speech.”

According to the original lawsuit filed on her behalf by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) – a designated anti-LGBTQ+ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) – Geraghty is “a professing Christian who strives to live out her faith daily.” 

Via the lawsuit, Geraghty also said her “faith informs her convictions” regarding human sex determination criteria – reducing human sex determination to gamete production alone and refusing to be “part of [the students’] social transition.”

The upcoming trial is set to address the “developmental appropriateness” of using names or pronouns to refer to students in the classroom that differ from the legal names on file with the school district via their parents or legal guardians.

A jury will also determine whether Geraghty was forced to resign or whether her resignation was tendered voluntarily.

In the full court opinion issued by Judge Pamela A. Baker, Geraghty’s own account of her resignation appears to differ from the accounts provided by school administrators via depositions.

One administrator alleges Geraghty asked that the students in question be removed from her classroom in order to accommodate her religious beliefs and prevent the students from “continuing to feel uncomfortable.”

In her own lawsuit, Geraghty denies asking school administrators if the students could be removed.

No date has been set for the trial.