Teacher was fired for refusing to call children by their preferred pronouns

[Maxmars]

I didn’t find your comments particularly or overly abrasive but I appreciate your willingness to try to improve. Along those lines I might suggest using phrases like “a student's whining about their sexualized identity-fantasy” and “wallow in their sexuality obsessed perceptions” falls somewhat short of the mark of being less abrasive and demonstrates a general but common misunderstanding of gender atypical and transgender youth due to lack of actual or practical experience in dealing with these scenarios or individuals beyond what is presented in the media.


Having reviewed the linked article in the OP, this is indeed a case with this teacher. Would it really have been so hard or earth shattering to simply respect these student’s request and get on with the lessons without turning the whole thing into a political battleground?

To address the suggestion that if a student wants to be called a different name, it should be changed legally and reregistered as such with the school I would like to offer the following:

As today’s youth are more flexible and less rigid in matters of gender and sexuality, the possibility exists a young person might just be experimenting or trying on different identities to figure out what fits them and the timing for a legal name change might not be appropriate or even desired as they might not be ready for a full social transition. There are also costs involved that some families simply can’t afford as the rules and procedures for changing names (and gender) vary from state-to-state.

Even in cases where a child has gone through legal recognition of a gender change there are still those who refuse to use proper names and pronouns which can be pretty emotionally and psychologically devastating to the person involved but who cares about the kid when (conservative) ideology and the right to be an ass (free speech) matters more. To me that’s pretty heartless and certainly not conducive to a student excelling in their studies.

From the outside I’m sure these matters seem pretty cut and dried and black or white but these attitudes lack nuance and ignore the differences between individuals within a widely diverse group.


Championing what social behavior? Refusing to use a trans kid’s name and pronouns? That’s just asshattery and if your point was the inverse – that some teachers are promoting this “nonsense”, I would like to point out that they have every major medical association in the country backing their position.

Excellent! Well said.

Let me address some aspects of this.

I understand and can accept that a 'condition' exists called gender dysphoria... it is a deeply personal and somewhat uncommon situation.  I understand that people, in a social setting (such as a school) should be willing to accept that reality.  I also understand that it is not a dime-a-dozen occurrence happening in 5 out of every 20 students.  It is a matter of some importance that doctors should identify and diagnose this condition - strictly because of its extraordinary impact and rarity.

But it is not the case that youths haven't naturally found themselves questioning their sexual orientation, or their 'fit' in society on a gender basis ever before.  It is a natural part of growing up for many.  Now, because of the activism element of reporting (and self-reporting,) it is no longer being addressed... it is being celebrated and our dealing with it has become a point of virtue signaling (not meant to imply that's what you're doing.)  In many, many cases it is.

The championing I was referring to was just that celebration.

The student could have asked to be referred to by a different name, but is the time allotted for teaching to become the platform for that moment?  Is class time the moment for an individuals 'social experiments?'  And when the request is rejected, does the student elevate the engagement to the authorities at school?  Did the student care at all about the concept of 'purpose' and 'decorum?'  Or does heightened sensitivity to sexual orientation and imagery supersede the idea that he or she should just do what they are there to do?

I have lost a lot of patience with the dismissal (not by you) of the reality that the 'gender affirming fad' in the medical industry is immensely profitable and has virtually no liabilities... so much so that it is often done in secret... especially when nearly every teen might be convinced to "try this out" by telling them that they have a condition rather than a phase, which statistically is much more likely to be the case.

I would like to add my sincere thanks to you, especially for your patience.  You may have surmised that I am debating you.  Not a smarmy "I want to be right debate" but because I - and perhaps many others - need to hear people like you.. Explaining this out - with patience and aplomb.  I am deliberately not editing out some of the harsher points because I myself have a problem coping with the nastier persistence of some of my own biases... gender and sexual orientation choice are generally not one of those.

I will admit that sacking the teacher strikes me as tremendously destructive... that people have as much right to not have to abide by the foibles of others as those for whom they are not mere foibles have to be respected. 

I don't know the people in this story, nor the antecedents. The student could be a perpetual whining "look at me" child, or some kind of class-clown, or maybe the type that lives to confront and embarrass the teacher.  Equally relevant, the teacher could be an ass, a bully, a jerk... God knows I have experienced their existence as well. 

But I do find it kind of irritating that the virtue signaling I mentioned before happens all around this issue... It is out of place, in my view.  Being gender dysphoric is real and tragic in the way it stresses the person and their social existence... but it is not a "prideful" thing...  it is not "an achievement."  Yet the narrative always seems to end there... at least in the common media.

Forgive me if I've offended you (or anyone) but sometimes it's better to explore this stuff, than avoid the discomfort and simply remain ignorant.