IFI files amicus brief in support of music teacher
7/29/24
Earlier this month, IFI filed an amicus brief supporting Indiana music teacher John Kluge, who was forced to resign from Brownsburg Community School in 2018 after his request for a religious exemption to the school’s mandatory “pronoun policy” was revoked. The policy required teachers to call students by their “preferred gender” and name, denying biological reality and Biblical truth.
Six years later, John is still embroiled in a legal battle against the school. Following the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Groff v. DeJoy, which upheld that “Title VII requires employers to grant a religious accommodation unless it would result in undue hardship or substantial additional costs,” the 7th Circuit sent John’s case back to the district court to be reconsidered. Click here for a full timeline of John’s legal battle against Brownsburg.
“In recent years, IFI has noticed a growing trend of public schools ignoring the constitutional rights of parents, teachers, and students,” the amicus brief, submitted by IFI General Counsel Josh Hershberger, reads. “Education is foundational to the project of raising children and building a strong family; and students, teachers, and parents should not face discrimination by school officials because of their political or religious views. For these reasons, IFI has publicly supported John Kluge and the right of teachers generally to live out their faith in the public school environment while respecting differences and modeling citizenship in a plural society. IFI is gravely concerned that the District Court’s decision in this matter will be used as precedent for violating the religious beliefs and conscience rights of other teachers in Indiana.”
Brownsburg argued and the district court agreed that the Indiana Constitution requires Brownsburg employees to affirm students identifying as transgender by using their preferred name and pronouns. The court relied on Article 8, Section 1 of the Indiana Constitution, which states, “[I]t shall be the duty of the General Assembly to provide…by law, for a general and uniform system of Common Schools, wherein tuition shall be without charge, and equally open to all.”
IFI argued against that line of reasoning in the brief:
“Brownsburg is open to all—meaning all who openly affirm transgender ideology, and others need not apply or enroll. The 150 drafters of the 1851 Indiana Constitution would be shocked by this interpretation, as Article 1, Section 3 of our Indiana Constitution declares, “No law shall, in any case whatever, control the free exercise and enjoyment of religious opinions, or interfere with the rights of conscience.” And Article 8, Section 1 simply requires the state to maintain a free common school system with enrollment available to all. Brownsburg fails even this standard.
To be clear, no Indiana law requires a school corporation to compel its teachers to promote transgender ideology. Instead, Indiana law designates sports teams based on biological sex, prohibits biological males from participating on teams designated for biological females, bans gender reassignment surgeries, requires schools to notify parents of any change to a student’s name or pronouns, and protects the religious expression of students and parents. Indiana’s chief legal officer also recently sought and procured an injunction prohibiting federal regulations from enforcing the very same policy concerning transgender names and pronouns at issue in this case.”
Please continue to prayerfully and financially support IFI as we fight to protect parental rights, religious freedom, and biblical values in the education system.