Teacher Fired for Not Using Male Pronouns to Address Female Student

Peter Vlaming, a French teacher at West Point High School in Virginia, was recently fired for refusing to use male pronouns when addressing a female student:

While Vlaming conceded to referring to the student by [her] male name, he refrained from addressing [her] by any identifying pronoun, the Times-Dispatch said.

This sounds much like the situation with Shawnee State University and Dr. Nicholas Meriwether, who was fired not for what he said, but for what he refused to say. In both cases, the reports indicate the teachers were respectful toward the students in question — but they declined to proactively affirm their attempt to “choose” their gender.

In both cases, the men treated their students respectfully but stated to affirm such conduct would violate their religious beliefs — a position Dr. Al Mohler of the Southern Baptist Convention supported even before their cases came to light.

Fear not, activists will continue to claim. Homosexuals, transgenders, and other sexual varieties just want to be ‘free to live their lives,’ not force their worldview on others. Except in this case. And that other one. And maybe a few more.

In Virginia, the government is “picking a side” when it comes to the conflict between religious exercise and “erotic liberty.” Under the Constitution, it’s the wrong side.

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9 comments

  • William Robinson

    He should keep showing up for work identifying as a teacher who has not been fired, a point he should make especially clear on payday.

  • What aspect of this is “erotic”?

    • @Donalbain,
      The “liberty” aspect is. One is the adjective, the other is the noun. Anything else we can help you with?

  • Nothing in the story had anything to do with any eroticism. Learn what words mean before you use them.

    • @Donalbain
      The words are in quotation marks because they refer to a very specific term. You might consider informing yourself before you criticize, but then again, this is the internet…

  • I don’t speak the nonsense language you God Botherers speak. What aspect of the story relates to eroticism?

  • Fair enough. Another refusal to answer a simple question. As I expected.

    • @Donalbain,

      And based on your comment history, we know what you do is ask sincere, honest, “simple” questions in good faith. What is it the kids say? “LOL.”