Trans teacher gets $60K payout because co-workers used wrong pronoun for ze

http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/27568/

An elementary school teacher who identifies as transgender specifically “transmaculine” and “genderqueer” will be awarded $60,000 from Oregon’s Gresham-Barlow School District for “emotional distress” suffered at the hands of her fellow employees. Leo Soell “came out” after “they” the pronoun Soell uses had a mastectomy in early 2015. Soell allegedly requested everyone at school refer to “they” as such, but the principal refused. (We’ll be putting “they” and associated terms in quotes so as to avoid confusion in the story.) If “they” was asked by students about “their” gender, “district leaders told Soell to respond, ‘We all have private lives, and it would not be appropriate to talk about our private lives during the school day,’” EAGNews.org reports. The school administration claims it was worried about “age appropriateness.”

Soell alleges that “their” co-workers kept calling “them” “she,” “lady” or “Miss Soell.” Other complaints included yelled insults and a “conspiracy” to prevent “them” from using the one gender-neutral bathroom. Nevertheless, a district investigation turned up no proof of harassment. The greater victory, Soell said, will affect teachers across Gresham. District leaders agreed to develop official guidelines about transgender staff by August. Those guidelines, inspired by similar policies in Portland and Eugene, will address names and pronouns, as well as bathroom access for transgender employees. In the meantime, Hall Principal Heidi Lasher emailed all teachers and staff reminding them that the district’s anti-bullying policies refer to teachers, too. “These policies require that all staff address transgender or gender non-conforming employees with their correct name and pronouns,” the principal wrote. “If you are found to be in violation of these policies, you will be subject to discipline up to and including dismissal.”