Virginia school board fires teacher who refused to call female student ‘he’ or ‘him’
A school board in the Virginia town of West Point has unanimously voted to fire a high school French teacher who respectfully refused to refer to a female gender-confused student as male, despite the vocal support of other students. This school year, one of Peter Vlaming’s students at West Point High School came back having “transitioned” to living as a boy over the summer, and wanted to be recognized as such. Vlaming agreed to use the masculine name she had chosen and attempted to avoid referring to her with female pronouns, but said his Christian faith prevented him from calling a girl “he” or “him.” Nevertheless, the girl says the compromise made her feel “singled out,” and her family complained to the administration, which placed him on administrative leave . At Vlaming’s request, the West Point School Board held a four-hour hearing Thursday evening to consider the matter. Before an overflow crowd containing many students and parents who supported the embattled teacher