A Virginia Teacher Has Been Put on Leave for Speaking Out Against a New Trans Students Policy
A Virginia elementary school teacher is suing the Loudoun County School Board after he was suspended following comments he made against a proposed new policy that would expand rights for transgender students.
Byron Tanner Cross, a physical education teacher at Leesburg Elementary School in Leesburg, Va., said during a May 25 public meeting that recognizing a student’s gender identity — if different from their sex assigned at birth — goes against his religious beliefs.
“I love all of my students but I will never lie to them regardless of the consequences,” Cross said.
“I’m a teacher, but I serve God first, and I will not affirm that a biological boy can be a girl and vice versa, because it’s against my religion,” said Cross, who says he is Christian. “It’s lying to a child. It’s abuse to a child. And it’s sinning against our God.”
