French Teacher Fired for Rejecting Personal Pronouns Wins Lawsuit Almost 6 Years Later

The Daily Signal Podcast

French teacher Peter Vlaming was fired in 2018 for shunning the use of pronouns to refer to a transgender-identifying student. On Sept. 30, the West Point School Board in Virginia agreed to pay him $575,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees.

"I'm so relieved that our basic fundamental rights of freedom of expression, of freedom of religion have been formally upheld," Vlaming told The Daily Signal.

The School Board cleared Vlaming’s termination from his record and changed its policies to conform to the new Virginia education policies established by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, R-Va.

Vlaming is a Christian, so he believes God created male and female. Still, the teacher was willing to respect the rights of his students to disagree.

When one of his female students started identifying as male, Vlaming avoided referring to her with pronouns, instead using her preferred name. On Halloween of 2018, his students participated in a virtual reality tour of French catacombs, during which the transgender-identifying student almost ran into a wall.

"Don't let her hit the wall!" Vlaming called out instinctively.

The student called her parents, who complained to the school. Vlaming was placed on administrative leave and given an ultimatum that he would be fired if he didn't use preferred personal pronouns. Vlaming refused to comply and was fired.

Nearly six years later, Vlaming, represented by the religious liberty nonprofit law firm Alliance Defending Freedom, won his case.

"Stand your ground with love," Vlaming advises other teachers. "Stand your ground. Live truthfully with love. You'll give others courage as well. At least that's what I hope and pray for."