A Florida teacher has accused their former employer of violating their civil rights after they were fired for using the gender-neutral honorific “Mx” in their email signature instead of “Ms.” or “Mr.” — flying in the face of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ controversial “Don’t Say Gay” law.
Av Vary, who taught physics at Florida Virtual School, an online public high school, until Oct. 24, says their pronouns and gender identity have nothing to do with their ability to be a good teacher.
“They are so far from related,” Vary told NBC News on Friday. “Getting fired for this, it’s absolute garbage.”
Vary filed a complaint Wednesday with the Florida Commission on Human Relations and the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that the school discriminated against them based on their gender identity and violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, NBC News reported.
In response, the Florida Virtual School said they are “obligated to follow Florida laws and regulations pertaining to public education” including laws “pertaining to the use of Personal Titles and Pronouns within Florida’s public school system.”
Vary said they began using “Mx.” at the start of the school year to show students they were an ally in light of new state legislation barring LGBTQ topics in schools, before eventually coming out as nonbinary later in the school year.
The controversial legislation put forth by DeSantis in March 2022 bars classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity through eighth grade. It also restricts health education for students in sixth to 12th grade and prohibits school employees from sharing their pronouns or titles with students if they do not align with their birth sex.
“When this legislation came out, it was important to me to signal to my marginalized students that I was still a safe place, I was still a safe adult to talk to,” Vary told NBC. “Because I wasn’t allowed to talk to them about that, but I needed them to know that if they needed someone to confide in, that I was a safe person to talk to.”
Vary, who says students have previously addressed them as both “Mrs.” and “Professor,” knew using “Mx.” could get them into potential legal issues even before realizing they were also nonbinary.
“When I switched to ‘Mx.,’ my existing students knew because of the way my email signature was and the way my homepage displayed my title and the way I signed my text messages,” Vary said.
Students didn’t bat an eye to Vary’s new identity, and at first, neither did Principal KJ Anderson, Vary said.
Vary said their new email signature was acceptable to Anderson until Aug. 28, when he wrote in an email that staff email signatures should display a name and no courtesy title. The principal also said Vary’s teacher announcement page and outward-facing communication required a “standard courtesy title” like “Mrs.” “Ms.” or “Mr.” or just their name.
Vary was then asked to change their title by the end of the day on Aug. 30, which they did not do.
After returning to school, Vary met with Anderson on Sept. 13 and said they weren’t comfortable using a gendered courtesy title but would use an alternative gender-neutral one such as “coach,” “teacher” or “professor.”
During a meeting days later with Anderson and human resources, Vary was told they had to change their courtesy title to comply with the Florida law that bans teachers from sharing their pronouns and titles with students if they do not correspond with their birth sex, according to a directive from the meeting obtained by NBC.
When they refused to change their title they were suspended on Sept. 15. Vary was terminated on Oct. 24 because they would not change the title.
Vary said they filed the EEOC complaint because their right to use the gender titles that correspond with their gender identity is a civil rights issue.
Vary, who says they did not even explain their new title of “Mx” to their students, says students have not had any issues with the change.
“There’s all this worry that teachers are going to indoctrinate students into some secret society,” Vary told NBC. “I’m telling you, we do not have time. If there is any extra time, we’re following up on students’ lives, making sure they’re OK, making sure their needs are met. Have they eaten in the last 24 hours? Do they have a safe place to lay their head at night?” they continued.
“There is not a thing in the world that could convince me to bring my personal life into the classroom. I just don’t do it. I don’t have time and I don’t have desire.”