A federal appeals court in Maryland has ruled that a Maryland school district’s policy requiring teachers to use the gender-affirming names and pronouns of trans students does not violate a Christian teacher’s First Amendment Rights.

Kimberly Polk, a substitute teacher for Montgomery County Public Schools, argued that the district’s policy violated her religious rights and free speech under the Constitution in court.

She originally attempted to sue the school district in 2024.

READ MORE: Trans teacher must misgender herself in classroom, US court rules

On 28 January, a three-member panel of the Fourth US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Polk in a 2-1 decision, reaffirming a previous court’s ruling.

It also rejected her request for an injunction against the policy, the Washington Post reports.

Judge Robert B King, who was in favour of the ruling, wrote that the teacher did not convince the court that the gender-affirming policy was hostile towards her religious views and that her right to free speech was not violated because it was part of her job to follow the school board’s policies as a public school teacher.

He wrote: “How a teacher addresses a particular student in a particular classroom – and whether a teacher communicates with a student’s parent – is merely a part of that teacher’s job description.”

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