PORTSMOUTH, Ohio (WAND) – A professor reprimanded for calling a female transgender student by a pronoun she didn't prefer has sued his school.
NBC News reports Dr. Nicholas Meriwether, an evangelical Christian and philosophy professor at Shawnee State Unversity, would not address her as a female. When the student reported the issue to the school and its leaders responded with discipline, the professor decided to sue.
The network says the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a conservative Christian law firm out of Arizona, filed the lawsuit for Meriwether on Nov. 5. It said the educator was “punished” for his actions.
“To accede to these demands would have required Dr. Meriwether to communicate views regarding gender identity that he does not hold, that he does not wish to communicate, and that would contradict (and force him to violate) his sincerely held Christian beliefs,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit argues Shawnee State is acting as “the self-appointed grammar police” in the way it’s handling the situation. It points out that “the number of potential gender identities is infinite” and says the school threatened to punish Meriwether again if he “continues to express his views”.
Meriwether defended his actions, saying his treatment of the student in question was like “other biologically male students”.
Shawnee State University leaders said they believe “freedom of expression” is important and added that they want an environment that’s “free from discrimination, retaliation and harassment”.
“We expect that as this case progresses, and details come to light, it will become clear that we made decisions in an effort to both respect our faculty member’s deep-rooted religious beliefs and our student’s right to equal treatment in the classroom,” a university statement said.
