Florida teacher who was fired for using gender-neutral honorific ‘Mx.’ sues the state

A nonbinary Florida teacher who was fired for using the gender-neutral honorific “Mx.” is accusing the state education department in a lawsuit of discrimination.

AV Schwandes taught science at the Florida Virtual School, an online public high school, until Oct. 24. Schwandes, who uses “they/them” pronouns, started using “Mx.” at the start of the school year in their email signature. They never actually had a conversation with students about the change, they said, adding that students just started using the new honorific once they updated their email signature.

Schwandes, who also goes by AV Vary, was fired when the school told them they had to change the honorific to comply with Florida’s Parental Rights in Education act, what critics have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law.

When the law was initially signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in March 2022, it prohibited “classroom instruction” on “sexual orientation or gender identity” in kindergarten through third grade “or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate.” The measure was then expanded in May to prohibit such classroom instruction from prekindergarten through eighth grade, restrict health education in sixth through 12th grade, and bar teachers and students from using pronouns and titles that don’t align with their birth sex.

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, Schwandes and two other Florida teachers, both transgender women, allege that the part of the law that bars them from using pronouns and titles consistent with their gender identities discriminates against them on the basis of sex and violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.

“I lost my job, and maybe my career, because Florida lawmakers don’t want maturing young adults to know that I exist,” Schwandes said in a statement Wednesday. “As a high school teacher, I should not have to pretend to be someone I’m not simply because I don’t ascribe to someone else’s rigid ideas of gender. Tolerance is a two-way street. Just as I respect the faith-based beliefs of others, my civil rights need to be respected because I am an American, and I do exist.”

The Florida Department of Education and the Florida Virtual School did not immediately return requests for comment regarding the lawsuit.

Last month, in response to questions about Schwandes’ firing, the Florida Virtual School said in an emailed statement: “As a Florida public school, FLVS is obligated to follow Florida laws and regulations pertaining to public education. This includes laws … pertaining to the use of Personal Titles and Pronouns within Florida’s public school system.”