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Teacher Forced to Resign After Refusing to Call Trans Students by Their Preferred Names

John Kluge claims his district's policy for respecting trans students' chosen names violates his religious liberties.

Less than a day after the Masterpiece Cakeshop verdict rattled the LGBTQ community, a similar faith-based dispute has emerged in Indiana.

John Kluge, 28, a former orchestra teacher at Indiana's Brownsburg High School, says he was forced to resign when he refused to comply with the district's policy on naming trans students. According to the mandate, teachers are required to refer to transgender pupils by their preferred names, not the names they were given at birth.

But Kluge claims the trans-inclusive policy goes against his religious convictions—and the requirement violates his First Amendment rights.

"I’m being compelled to encourage students in what I believe is something that's a dangerous lifestyle," he told the Indy Star. "I’m fine to teach students with other beliefs, but the fact that teachers are being compelled to speak a certain way is the scary thing."

Now, Kluge is fighting to win his job back, arguing that the district is acting as though he has already left his position when he only submitted a tentative letter of resignation. He says he tried to adapt to the policy, referring to all students by their last names, but the workaround wasn't enough.

Meanwhile, parents of a transgender student at Brownsburg High School told the Indy Star that their daughter didn't feel safe at the school.

Notably, news of Kluge's forced resignation comes shortly after the federal court ruled in favor of anti-gay baker and shop owner Jack Phillips in the infamous Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission legal case.

The ruling upheld Phillips' right to deny LGBTQ patrons because of his religious convictions, a mentality groups like Lambda Legal and the ACLU say is unjust.

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