Teacher: I Was Forced To Resign Because I Won’t Pretend Boys Can Be Girls

An orchestra teacher in Indiana says says his bosses gave him an ultimatum: Start referring to boy as girls, resign, or get fired.

John Klug decided to resign. He says the Brownsburg Community School district where he worked had put out a transgender policy document that required teachers and other staff to address students by their chosen names and pronouns. Kluge, instead, decided to call students by their last names (thereby bypassing any problems).

The school board on Monday approved Kluge’s resignation, even as he was trying to rescind it, according to a report on FOX59-TV.

Kluge claims the school district forced him to resign over its transgender student policy. He says the district’s requirement that teachers call trans students by their preferred names, rather than those given at birth, goes against his religious beliefs.

“I wanted to be able to teach my subject matter with a clean conscience,” said Kluge when he took the podium during the meeting. “You’ve approved my resignation without me being able to appeal my resignation.”

Along with Kluge, about 45 other community members were signed up to voice their opinion about the situation, including a transgender student who was in Kluge’s orchestra class.

“Everybody advocating in support for Kluge needs to think about what is like to be a transgender person and what it is like to live your life knowing that there are people that would say that you are not an actual human being and actively disrespect you,” Aidyn Sucec said.

The Brownsburg Community School said in a statement that it had “received a voluntary resignation from John Kluge prior to the end of the 2017-18 school year. The administration accepted his resignation. The Brownsburg Board of School Trustees approved this resignation at the regular monthly business meeting on June 11, 2018. Brownsburg Community School Corporation complies with all state and federal laws.”

The Federalist said more than 200 people attended the school board meeting on Monday.

“Many of the parents at Monday night’s meeting said they were unaware that this accommodation was in place for transgender students and are uncomfortable with its implications for their children,” reported the Indianapolis Star. “Landon Chapman said he’s not comfortable with students who were born male being able to use the same female restroom as his daughter. ‘Why is it that parents weren’t notified?’ he asked the board.”