A Christian music teacher, terminated for declining to use his gender-dysphoric students’ new names or pronouns, has a second chance for justice in his lawsuit against his former employer.

Indiana teacher John Kluge deserves to win, and Brownsburg Community School Corporation should lose.

Kluge’s case has been bolstered thanks to the Supreme Court 's ruling this summer in Groff v. DeJoy , which made it easier for employees to get religious exemptions from employers.

As a result, Kluge has asked a federal judge to rule in favor of him “on his Title VII claims of religious discrimination and retaliation,” according to the Nov. 3 filing from his attorneys at Alliance Defending Freedom. His appeal of a prior ruling was pending due to the Groff case.

The teacher has “a sincerely held religious belief against encouraging gender dysphoria by regularly using transgender names and pronouns.” His beliefs “conflicted with the district’s employment requirements, and ... this led to his forced resignation,” according to the filing.

Kluge’s case is similar to that of Gerald Groff, a postal worker who received an accommodation not requiring him to work on Sundays due to his religious beliefs but later had it retracted.

Kluge “received … a modest accommodation: calling all students by their last names, allowing him to stay neutral on transgender issues and focus on teaching music,” following new district policies in 2017.

But a handful of individuals and an LGBT activist group complained, and that led to him being forced to resign in 2018. This came even though he tried to work with the district on reasonable accommodations to protect his conscience.

When he did so, the school district used this against him, citing one instance during an awards ceremony in which he used the new names of the students who had identified as transgender.

Kluge did so because to “address students in such an informal manner at such a formal event as opposed to the classroom setting where teachers [normally] refer to students by last names” would not be appropriate, in his view.

From a purely legal standpoint, it is clear Kluge has the religious right to work as a teacher without being forced to use pronouns and names that reflect students’ confusion over their true gender. But there is also a moral argument to be made in favor of the music teacher.

A good relationship includes rights and responsibilities. All contracts, formal or informal, function under these conditions.

Employees have a responsibility to do the work asked of them, and employers have the responsibility to pay their employees on an established schedule, for example.

Similarly, Brownsburg teachers have the responsibility to teach the classes they are paid for and perform other responsibilities such as helping students after class and grading assignments. But they also have the right to have their religious views respected and to seek reasonable accommodations when the district creates a policy that conflicts with those views.

The district also has a responsibility to support its teachers and not let a handful of people force out a teacher who created a reasonable solution to a problem.

It is not possible for someone to change their sex. But LGBT identification is on the rise , and employers are being forced to figure out a way to handle situations such as new names and pronouns.

Kluge composed a good solution, and then his employer failed in its responsibility to uphold it. The judicial system should see that and rule in his favor.

Matt Lamb is a contributor to the Washington Examiner's Beltway Confidential blog. He is an associate editor for the College Fix and has previously worked for Students for Life of America and Turning Point USA.