A Florida teacher who was fired for using the gender-neutral honorific “Mx” in their email signature instead of “Ms.” or “Mr.” is now suing the state Department of Education for discrimination.
AV Schwandes, a former science teacher at the Florida Virtual School, argues in a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday, along with two transgender female teachers, that Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ controversial “Don’t Say Gay” law bars them from using pronouns and titles consistent with their gender identity and discriminates against them on the basis of sex.
The suit says that under the Parental Rights in Education Act, “Florida has stigmatized Plaintiffs, threatened their psychological wellbeing, upended the respect that is owed to them as educators and that is necessary for a safe workplace and functioning classroom, and put their professions and families’ wellbeing on the line.”
Additionally, they claim the law has “pushed one plaintiff out of their teaching career and threatens to do the same for the other plaintiffs — and for the other transgender and nonbinary teachers like them across Florida,” the 61-page complaint says.
They further argue that a provision of the Parental Rights in Education Act violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title IX of Education Amendments of 1972, and demand that a federal judge strike it down as unconstitutional.
According to the suit, Schwandes began using “Mx.” at the start of the last school year to show students they were an ally, before eventually coming out as nonbinary.
They said Principal KJ Anderson originally accepted their email signature, until Aug. 28, when he wrote in an email that staff email signatures should display a name and no courtesy title.
Anderson also said Schwanders’ teacher announcement page and outward-facing communication required a “standard courtesy title” like “Mrs.” “Ms.” or “Mr.” or just their name.
Schwandes 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, Schwandes 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.”
When they refused to change their title they were suspended on Sept. 15. Schwandes was then terminated on Oct. 24 because they would not change the title.
“I lost my job, and maybe my career because Florida lawmakers don’t want maturing young adults to know that I exist,” Schwandes said in a statement to NBC News.
“As a high school teacher, I should not have to pretend to be someone I’m not simply because I don’t ascribe to someone else’s rigid ideas of gender,” they said.
“Tolerance is a two-way street. Just as I respect the faith-based beliefs of others, my civil rights need to be respected because I am an American and I do exist.”
Following questions about Schwandes’ firing last month, the Florida Virtual School said in a statement: “As a Florida public school, FLVS is obligated to follow Florida laws and regulations pertaining to public education.
“This includes laws… pertaining to the use of Personal Titles and Pronouns within Florida’s public school system.”
The lawsuit also includes claims by Katie Wood, who transitioned in 2020 and is a math teacher at Lennard High School in Hillsborough County, and a Jane Doe, who came out as transgender in 2021 and is a teacher in the Lee County Schools.
Both teachers said their districts were initially supportive of their identities, and they used the titles “Ms.” when introducing themselves and “she/her” pronouns in the classrooms and syllabi before the Parental Rights in Education law was passed.
They are now prohibited from using those terms to describe themselves under the law, and are barred from correcting students and other teachers who address them with “Mr.” “he” or “him” pronouns.
“Going by titles like ‘Mr.’ and pronouns like ‘he’ and ‘him’ would harm Ms. Wood, including emotionally, risk physical harm from others and disrupt her classroom and ability to do her job,” the suit states.
Instead, the suit says, Wood asked her students to call her “Teacher Wood” but the non gendered title made her feel stigmatized because no other teachers at her school were using it and it “does not come naturally to her when describing herself.”
It goes on to say that the “risk that she could lose her teaching job and license” for violating Florida’s law and Hillsborough County School Board policy, which enforces the law, “has caused Ms. Wood great anxiety and distracts her during work.”
The plaintiffs are all represented by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Southern Legal Counsel and by San Francisco-based law firm Altshuler Berzon, LLP.
“Educators serve their students and their communities best when working in safe spaces where they are respected, valued and allowed to be themselves,” the attorneys said in a statement to NBC News.
“Stigmatizing trans and nonbinary people not only undermines educators but also harms and isolates all students.
“Teaching at a public school shouldn’t mean denying or contradicting core beliefs or, most importantly, losing oneself entirely,” they argued, saying: “These unlawful statutes have distracted and harmed teachers who want to teach.”
The Post has reached out to the Florida Department of Education for comment.