A federal court has ruled that a Kansas teacher is able to communicate honestly with parents of her transgender students using their preferred name, when different than their given name, in line with her Christian beliefs. Fort Riley, Kansas middle school teacher Pamela Ricard last year was reprimanded and suspended from school for “declining to use a name for a student that was inconsistent with the student’s biological sex.” After being reprimanded, Ricard sued the school, alleging that the policies violated her rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The court ruled that the school could not punish Ricard for communicating with parents using the preferred name of students, even if that name was different than the student’s legal name.
