A divided three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Montgomery County Public Schools did not violate the First Amendment rights of a Christian substitute teacher by requiring her to use transgender students’ pronouns in the classroom.
The appeals court affirmed a lower court’s decision dismissing most of the teacher’s claims that the policy violated her free speech and religious rights, and denied her request for an injunction blocking the school district from enforcing it.
Under Montgomery County Public Schoolspolicy, staff are required to address students by the name and pronouns that align with the gender identity they consistently assert at school. Students are not required to change permanent records to receive gender-affirming names or pronouns, and teachers are instructed to “maintain the confidentiality of a student’s transgender status” whenever possible.
The case stems from a lawsuit filed by Kimberly Polk, who began working as a substitute teacher for Montgomery County Public Schools in 2021. Polk had planned to continue teaching in the district but objected to its pronouns policy, according to The Washington Post.
In November 2022, Polk requested a religious accommodation, claiming the district’s transgender policy conflicted with her “sincerely held religious beliefs,” which she said are “based on her understanding of her Christian religion and the Holy Bible.” Polk believes there are only two sexes and does not recognize the concept of gender identity, citing biblical teachings that God created human beings male and female from birth.
A compliance coordinator proposed accommodations that would have allowed Polk to teach only in preschool and elementary school — where students are less likely to identify as transgender, nonbinary, or gender-nonconforming — but not in middle or high school. A month later, the district denied her request, and Polk stopped substitute teaching.
In her 2024 lawsuit, Polk argued that the school system’s refusal to grant her a religious exemption from the pronouns policy violated her civil rights. She asked a federal judge to block enforcement of the policy while allowing her to teach only in elementary schools with no transgender students as the case proceeded.
U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman denied the injunction and dismissed most of Polk’s claims, ruling that when she was hired, the school board paid her to speak on its behalf as its employee. Boardman did allow one civil rights claim to proceed to discovery. Polk later appealed the ruling to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which heard arguments in October 2025.
Writing for the majority, 4th Circuit Judge Robert King said that Polk had not convinced the court that MCPS’s policy regarding transgender students’ pronouns was hostile toward her religious views. King found that Polk’s free speech rights were not violated because following the policy was part of her official duties as a public school teacher.
“How a teacher addresses a particular student in a particular classroom — and whether a teacher communicates with a student’s parent — is merely a part of that teacher’s job description,” King, who was appointed by former President Bill Clinton, wrote.
The majority wrote that “no one forced Polk to become a substitute teacher in Montgomery County” and said that by accepting a position with MCPS, she agreed to follow all of the district’s policies.
King also wrote that disagreements over school policy should be resolved through democratic means, implying that Montgomery County residents can elect new school board members if they want the policies changed.
Judge Stephanie Thacker, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, concurred with King’s opinion.
Writing in dissent, J. Harvie Wilkinson III, an appointee of former President Ronald Reagan, argued that MCPS’s policy infringes on teachers’ free speech rights and effectively prevents them from expressing views opposing transgender rights or objecting to accommodations provided to transgender students.
Montgomery County Public Schools spokeswoman Liliana López told The Washington Post that the district welcomes the court’s decision but declined to comment further due to the possibility of additional litigation.
Polk’s attorney, Rick Claybrook, told the newspaper that his client is considering appealing the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court or seeking a rehearing before the full 4th Circuit.
If the U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear Polk’s appeal or upholds the ruling, the decision could affect similar cases in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, all of which fall under the 4th Circuit’s jurisdiction, where teachers argue that their religious beliefs prevent them from using transgender students’ pronouns.
Thomas Niehaus has pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of malicious use of fire after setting Pride flags ablaze in several Cincinnati neighborhoods last summer.
The 52-year-old was arrested last July following an investigation into a series of arson fires targeting Pride flags attached to homes in Clifton, Clifton Heights, and Northside.
"These actions posed a serious risk to community safety in occupied residences," the Cincinnati Fire Department said in a news release. No injuries were reported.
The city has installed the rainbow flagpole wraps and adorned its windows with Pride-themed signs and stickers in an effort to defy the spirit of the state's flag restrictions.
The city of Boise has installed rainbow-colored wraps on flagpoles at City Hall in a show of defiance toward Republican state lawmakers who recently banned localities from flying non-approved flags, including the Pride flag.
The wraps were placed in the outdoor plaza to signal that the city is LGBTQ-affirming while still complying with the flag ban. City officials also hung a large sign with rainbow stripes and the words "Creating a city for everyone" in one City Hall window, and decorated other windows with rainbow-colored, heart-shaped stickers reading "A city for everyone means for everyone."
A federal judge has ordered St. George, Utah, to pay a group of drag performers more than $350,000 in attorneys' fees after previously ruling in the troupe's favor in a First Amendment case.
U.S. District Judge David Nuffer ordered the city to cover the legal costs accrued by Southern Utah Drag Stars over a three-year legal battle, finding it is bound by the terms of a 2025 settlement.
Southern Utah Drag Stars initially planned to stage a drag show at a private venue, but it was canceled after the owner received threats against employees' safety, according to St. George News. The group then applied for a permit to hold the show in a public park in April 2023.
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