{"id":734718,"date":"2025-11-07T14:07:23","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T22:07:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/?p=734718"},"modified":"2025-11-07T14:07:27","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T22:07:27","slug":"federal-appeals-court-ohio-school-district-cant-discipline-students-who-wont-use-others-preferred-pronouns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/newsroom\/federal-appeals-court-ohio-school-district-cant-discipline-students-who-wont-use-others-preferred-pronouns\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal Appeals Court: Ohio school district can\u2019t discipline students who won’t use others’ \u2018preferred pronouns\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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(Top + Bottom) banner photos via: visitdelohio.com\/<\/a> \/ (Center) photo via: olentangy.k12.oh.us<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

OAN Staff\u00a0Katherine Mosack<\/a>
2:07 PM \u2013 Friday, November 7, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A federal appeals court in Ohio ruled against the fourth-largest school district in the state, deciding that the district may not punish students for using biological pronouns — pronouns aligned with a person\u2019s biological sex — or gender-related language, even if other students find the language offensive or derogatory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means that students cannot be reprimanded for purposely “misgendering” other gender dysphoric students who choose to identify as the opposite sex. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Olentangy Local School District cannot bar students from using gender-specific language that others may find offensive during a 10-7 decision on Thursday, where the court sided with the group Parents Defending Education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Defending Education is a national, grassroots nonprofit empowering parents to advocate for classrooms that educate \u2013 not indoctrinate,” according to the group’s website. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The organization first filed a suit against Olentangy in 2023, arguing that the district\u2019s policies that required the use of peers\u2019 \u201cpreferred pronouns were a violation of students\u2019 rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cOur society continues to debate whether biological pronouns are appropriate or offensive \u2014 just as it continues to debate many other issues surrounding transgender rights,\u201d Thursday\u2019s ruling said, written by Circuit Judge Eric Murphy for the majority. \u201cThe school district may not skew this debate by forcing one side to change the way it conveys its message or by compelling it to express a different view.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The court believed the district had \u201cfallen short\u201d of upholding a standard that allowed speech that would \u201cmaterially and substantially disrupt\u201d school activities or infringe on the legal rights of others in the community, and judges also noted that the district failed to provide substantial evidence \u201cthat the use of biological pronouns would disrupt school functions or qualify as harassment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cCommon sense says that Olentangy\u2019s policies aren\u2019t helping students by compelling their peers to parrot words they don\u2019t really believe,\u201d said Cam Norris, an attorney for Parents Defending Education. \u201cThey are harming them by teaching them that different world views should be silenced and banned, not understood and rebutted.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Thursday\u2019s ruling reversed a decision made by a three-judge panel of the 6th<\/sup> Circuit in July 2024. The previous ruling found that the school district had shown that its prohibited speech would disrupt classroom activities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The judges on Thursday sent the case back to U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley in Columbus, Ohio, to initiate a preliminary injunction against Olentangy enforcing LGBT+ pronoun policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The case addressed district certain policies that prohibit the use of gender-related language that some deem insulting or dehumanizing, calling instead for the use of \u201cpreferred pronouns.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The electronic devices policy bars \u201cdisruptive\u201d material, or any material that could be seen as harassing other students based on their gender identity or sexual orientation. An antidiscrimination policy, meanwhile, prohibits students from using \u201cdiscriminatory language,\u201d such as derogatory comments, jokes, or slurs based on protected characteristics such as gender identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is unclear how widely the ruling will apply across the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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BREAKING: The US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals just ruled that schools CAN NOT force students to use "preferred pronouns"

The ruling states that there is "no evidence that the use of biological pronouns would disrupt school functions or qualify as harassment under Ohio law."\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/5SiLczOm6B<\/a><\/p>— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) November 7, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote>