University's Transgender Pronoun Policy May Have Violated the First Amendment, Court Rules:
An Ohio university may have violated the free speech and religious freedom rights of a Christian philosophy professor by requiring him to refer to a biological male student with feminine pronouns and a feminine title, a court ruled Friday.
A three-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Shawnee State University professor Nicholas Meriwether, Ph.D. Meriwether sued the university for violating his free speech and religious freedom rights by requiring him to refer to a biologically male student with feminine pronouns. A district court dismissed Meriwether’s lawsuit, but the Sixth Circuit reversed that ruling, allowing the lawsuit to proceed.
“Since Meriwether has plausibly alleged that Shawnee State violated his First Amendment rights by compelling his speech or silence and casting a pall of orthodoxy over the classroom, his free-speech claim may proceed,” Judge Amul Thapar, a Trump appointee, wrote in his opinion. Thapar also argued that the university likely violated Meriwether’s religious freedom by dismissing his religious arguments with hostility.
“This case forced us to defend what used to be a common belief—that nobody should be forced to contradict their core beliefs just to keep their job,” John Bursch, senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and one of Meriwether’s lawyers, said in a statement on Friday.
“We are very pleased that the 6th Circuit affirmed the constitutional right of public university professors to speak and lead discussions, even on hotly contested issues. The freedoms of speech and religion must be vigorously protected if universities are to remain places where ideas can be debated and learning can take place,” Bursch added. --->READ MORE HERE
Professor wins free-speech fight over gender pronouns:
A federal appeals court ruled in favor of a professor who was punished by his university for refusing to call a biologically male student by the student’s preferred female pronouns.
Nicholas Meriweather, a philosophy teacher at Shawnee State University in Ohio, sued the school after officials prepared a written warning against him and threatened suspension without pay or termination if he refused to use female pronouns upon the student’s request.
A federal judge ruled earlier that Mr. Meriwether’s manner of addressing the student was not protected under the First Amendment and dismissed his claims related to free-speech and religious protections.
In a unanimous ruling Friday from a three-judge panel, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals said the school violated the professor’s right to free speech and his lawsuit can continue in a lower court. --->READ MORE HERE
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