A pansexual teacher has claimed she was fired from her job for discussing sexual orientation with her students.
Casey Scott, a former art teacher at Trafalgar Middle School in Florida, said she explained her pansexuality to students after they expressed curiosity about the subject matter.
Scott then asked pupils to create flags expressing their own sexual orientations, which she later shared on her classroom door.
According to Scott, the flags made by students represented a range of gender identities, from gay to transgender and non-binary.
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Speaking about the March incident, Scott told NBC2: “A discussion happened in class and because of that, now I’m fired.”
Pansexuality is defined by GLAAD as ‘being attracted to all gender identities, or attracted to people regardless of gender’.
After sharing the flags on her classroom door, Scott, who was working on a probationary basis at the school, was asked by administrators to remove them.
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“They said it would be in the best interest if I got rid of them now,” she explained, adding that she later binned the artwork.
According to NBC2, Lee School District officials said that while some students understood Scott’s description of her sexuality, others were left ‘confused’.
The subject matter sparked anger among some parents, who wrote to school administrators.
Scott was then told not to return to school and that her contract was being terminated, with officials attributing the dismissal to her failure to follow the curriculum.
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A representative for the Lee County School District told UNILAD: "The District exercised its right to terminate the teacher’s probationary contract because she did not follow the state mandated curriculum."
Scott’s March dismissal coincided with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signing the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill into law.
On 28 March, DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education bill during a school visit, which prevents the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity from pre-school to third grade.
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The bill, which allows parents to sue over breaches, states: “Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”
Speaking at the school, DeSantis said: "In Florida, we not only know that parents have a right to be involved, we insist that parents have a right to be involved.
"We will make sure that parents can send their kids to school to get an education, not an indoctrination."
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the LGBT Foundation on 0345 3 30 30 30, 10am–6pm Monday to Friday, or email [email protected]
Aisha Nozari