A judge in Florida has sided with a middle school teacher who was fired after she was accused of “misgendering” a girl who claimed to be a “transgender” boy.
Judge John Van Laningham said Miami-Dade County made a mistake in firing Yojary E. Mundaray after an incident in December 2019 at the Jose de Diego Middle School in Miami, Florida, according to a report by News Service of Florida.
The teacher had reportedly told the student “I’m a Christian, and my God made no mistakes” while refusing to comply with the student’s commands — after the student had said, “I think God made a mistake.”
After that, a commission determined that Mundaray had violated district policies by “misgendering” a trans student. The teacher was later fired.
Judge Van Laningham recommended Florida’s Education Practices Commission exonerate Mundaray, noting that by law, the teacher should be protected from forced speech.
The case was “not about proselytizing but about transgender ideology,” the judge wrote in his decision.
“Advocates of transgenderism can be as doctrinaire as religious zealots these days,” Van Laningham wrote. “As this case demonstrates, adhering to the traditional view that gender is biologically determined can get a person excommunicated, from a job in this instance.”
Mundaray had fallen under fire after using the student’s real name and pronouns while disciplining her for what the judge described as “routine classroom horseplay,” according to court records.
The student reportedly told the teacher she now identified as male, and requested she use male pronouns when addressing her. Mundaray refused, citing her Christian beliefs.
An official investigation was then launched, and the teacher was accused of having “imposed her personal religious views on [the student], a sixth-grade student,” and caused [the student] to become upset and/or cry.” Mundaray was then fired in June 2020.
The case will now reportedly go back to the Education Practices Commission for review of Judge Van Langingham’s decision and to decide whether or not Mundaray will be reinstated.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
