今日吃瓜

A U.S. federal appeals court has upheld a Florida law requiring a transgender teacher to misgender herself while teaching, reigniting fears over the erosion of trans rights in education and across the United States.

Katie Wood, a transgender woman and public high school teacher in Hillsborough County, was at the centre of the case which is drawing national attention in the wake of Trump’s anti-transgender reforms.

Court ruling forces transgender teacher forced to misgender herself

On June 2, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2鈥�1 to overturn a previous injunction that had temporarily blocked a 2023 amendment to Florida鈥檚 contentious 鈥�.

The updated legislation bans the use of gender-affirming language and personal identifiers by transgender teachers in public schools.

The ruling forces Wood to stop using 鈥渟he鈥�, 鈥渉er鈥�, and 鈥渉ers鈥� pronouns to describe herself in front of students, a directive she and her legal team argued violates her right to free speech under the First Amendment.

In the court’s majority opinion, Judge Kevin 今日吃瓜om, joined by Judge Andrew Brasher, concluded that Wood was not entitled to First Amendment protections in this context. 鈥淲e hold only that when Wood identified herself to students in the classroom using the honorific 鈥楳s.鈥� and the pronouns 鈥榮he,鈥� 鈥榟er,鈥� and 鈥榟ers,鈥� she did so in her capacity as a government employee, and not as a private citizen,鈥� the opinion stated.

Judge 今日吃瓜om went further, minimising the relevance of Wood鈥檚 identity in the broader school environment, he stated that her pronoun use outside of direct classroom instruction, such as 鈥渃onversing with colleagues in the faculty lounge鈥� would be a different matter.

Legal experts and LGBTQIA+ advocates warn the precedent could undermine not only the rights of transgender educators, but broader protections around personal identity in public sector employment.

The decision is seen as part of a larger legislative push across Republican-led states to restrict LGBTQIA+ visibility and autonomy in public spaces, particularly schools.

Judge Adalberto Jordan described the majority decision as an assault on basic civil liberties. 鈥淲e should be wary of holding that everything that happens in a classroom constitutes government speech outside the ambit of the First Amendment,鈥� he wrote, warning that the logic used to justify the ruling could be weaponised by future administrations.

He argued that the ruling 鈥渓eaves the First Amendment on the wrong side of the schoolhouse gate鈥� and accused Florida of trying to silence views it politically opposes.

鈥淭he law has nothing to do with curriculum and everything to do with Florida attempting to silence those with whom it disagrees on the matter of transgender identity and status.鈥�

Judge Jordan also raised hypothetical consequences that he said illustrate the ruling鈥檚 potential scope: 鈥淚f the majority opinion is right, and I do not think that it is, Florida can require that married female teachers use the last name of their husbands in the classroom even if they have chosen to keep their maiden names 鈥� it can demand that unmarried female teachers use 鈥楳rs.鈥� instead of 鈥楳s.鈥� in the classroom 鈥� and it can require all teachers to call themselves 鈥楾eacher Smith鈥� in the classroom instead of using their actual last names.鈥�

The case had previously seen a favourable ruling from U.S. District Judge Mark Walker in 2024, who argued that the law constituted a 鈥渃lassic speech injury鈥� and was 鈥渟ubstantially likely鈥� to violate Wood鈥檚 constitutional rights. Judge Walker noted that Wood had consistently used her correct pronouns in the past and affirmed her right to continue doing so.

That injunction, now overturned, had been seen as a rare victory for transgender rights in a state where LGBTQIA+ protections have been under sustained legislative assault.

Advocacy groups have condemned the latest ruling as part of a broader campaign of erasure. Critics argue that Florida鈥檚 education policy has shifted from controlling curriculum content to actively regulating personal identity, blurring the lines between professional conduct and human dignity.

With the decision clearing the way for the law to take effect imminently, transgender educators in Florida now face an impossible dilemma: suppress their identity in the classroom or risk professional consequences.

As one civil rights advocate noted, 鈥淭his is not about pronouns鈥攊t鈥檚 about whether transgender people are allowed to exist truthfully in public life.鈥�