Ohio school district blocked from enforcing pronouns policies by federal appeals court

A federal appeals court has barred an Ohio school district from enforcing policies that opponents say compel students to use preferred pronouns for students who trans identify, as litigation surrounding the matter continues.

In a divided en banc ruling last week, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the parental rights advocacy group Defending Education in its litigation over a policy in the Olentangy Local School District in Ohio that plaintiffs warned could punish students for referring to trans-identified and nonbinary students using their given name and pronouns as opposed to their preferred name and pronouns.

The 6th Circuit granted Defending Education’s request for a preliminary injunction, ruling that it was likely to succeed on the merits of its First Amendment arguments. The en banc ruling overturned earlier rulings from a federal judge and a 6th Circuit panel.

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