Teacher Spells Out the ABCs of LGBTQ+ Protections.
The issue is making headlines almost daily: how much leeway does a school or a local government have to dictate policies and teacher conduct in relation to LGBTQ+ rights and advocacy?
Michelle MacDonald, a high school English teacher in Maine, just found a novel way to protect those who advocate for LGBTQ+ rights by defeating a motion to dismiss her discrimination claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, which protects against discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.
MacDonald claimed in her lawsuit that she was discriminated against and subjected to a hostile work environment because of her advocacy on behalf of LGBTQ+ students, even though she was not LGBTQ+ herself (her child is transgender). A federal court in Maine dismissed her claims of sex discrimination, because she did not claim any discrimination “because of” her own sex.
But, importantly, the court allowed her claims of discrimination and harassment based on sex to move forward based on her association with members of the LGBTQ+ community. The court noted that Section 2000e-2(m) of the law requires only that the discrimination be based on “sex,” not necessarily the plaintiff’s sex. As such, if MacDonald were treated unequally because of the “sex” of her family member or students she supported, she might be able to make out an associational sex discrimination claim. As we know, in 2020 the Supreme Court ruled in Bostock v. Clayton County, Ga., that discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity is prohibited “sex” discrimination under Title VII.
MacDonald’s case highlights the extreme intolerance and venom that continues to be directed at some public employees who support LGBTQ+ rights, including a fellow teacher telling her that LGBTQ+ people were “unnatural” and “mutations of nature,” students tearing down “Gender 101” posters in the school, students calling her a “f****g bitch,” and school administrators refusing to provide the school’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance student group with the same benefits as other student groups. Hard to see anything civil or loving there.
MacDonald’s success at this preliminary stage – which the U.S. Department of Justice supported – may embolden other teachers and public servants to resist and defend their right to support LGBTQ+ students, family members, and colleagues at work and in court.