A federal appeals court has delivered a clear win for free speech, ruling that public schools cannot force students to use preferred pronouns for transgender or nonbinary classmates that contradict biological reality.
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court’s decision in a case against Ohio’s Olentangy Local School District, which had mandated the use of chosen pronouns under a policy aimed at promoting “inclusion.”
Parents and students sued, arguing the rule violated their First Amendment rights by compelling them to affirm a contested ideology about gender fluidity.
Judge Eric Murphy, writing for the majority, called the policy blatant viewpoint discrimination. The district greenlit messages endorsing gender as separate from sex while banning the “disfavored” truth that biology determines gender—and that it’s fine to use corresponding pronouns.
“The School District permits certain approved messages… and prohibits a disfavored view,” Murphy wrote, protecting students’ ability to speak their convictions without government coercion.