Censorship Industrial Complex
School Cannot Force Students To Use Preferred Pronouns, US Federal Court Rules

From the Daily Caller News Foundation
“Our system forbids public schools from becoming ‘enclaves of totalitarianism.’”
A federal appeals court in Ohio ruled Thursday that students cannot be forced to use preferred pronouns in school.
Defending Education (DE) filed the suit against Olentangy Local School District (OLSD) in 2023, arguing the district’s anti-harassment policy that requires students to use the “preferred pronouns” of others violates students’ First Amendment rights by “compelling students to affirm beliefs about sex and gender that are contrary to their own deeply held beliefs.” Although a lower court attempted to shoot down the challenge, the appeals court ruled in a 10-7 decision that the school cannot “wield their authority to compel speech or demand silence from citizens who disagree with the regulators’ politically controversial preferred new form of grammar.”
Because the school considers transgender students to be a protected class, students who violated the anti-harassment policy by referring to such students by their biological sex risked punishments such as suspension and expulsion, according to DE.
Dear Readers:
As a nonprofit, we are dependent on the generosity of our readers.
Please consider making a small donation of any amount here.
Thank you!
“American history and tradition uphold the majority’s decision to strike down the school’s pronoun policy,” the court wrote in its opinion. “Over hundreds of years, grammar has developed in America without governmental interference. Consistent with our historical tradition and our cherished First Amendment, the pronoun debate must be won through individual persuasion, not government coercion. Our system forbids public schools from becoming ‘enclaves of totalitarianism.’”
OLSD did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
“We are deeply gratified by the Sixth Circuit’s intensive analysis not only of our case but the state of student First Amendment rights in the modern era,” Nicole Neily, founder and president of DE, said in a statement. “The court’s decision – and its many concurrences – articulate the importance of free speech, the limits and perils of public schools claiming to act in loco parentis, and the critical role of persuasion – rather than coercion – in America’s public square.”
“Despite its ham-fisted attempt to moot the case, Olentangy School District was sternly reminded by the 6th circuit en banc court that it cannot force students to express a viewpoint on gender identity with which they disagree, nor extend its reach beyond the schoolhouse threshold into matters better suited to an exercise of parental authority,” Sarah Parshall Perry, vice president and legal fellow at DE, said in a statement. “A resounding victory for student speech and parental rights was long overdue for families in the school district and we are thrilled the court’s ruling will benefit others seeking to vindicate their rights in the classroom and beyond.”
Censorship Industrial Complex
Justice Centre campaigning Canadian provinces to follow Alberta’s lead protecting professionals
Justice Centre launches national campaign to stop ideological overreach in regulated professions
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms announces the launch of a national campaign urging all provinces to adopt legislation that restores professional regulators to their proper role of overseeing competence and ethics, rather than compelling speech or imposing political ideology on regulated professionals who serve the public.
Across Canada, professionals such as doctors, nurses, teachers, social workers, engineers, dentists, lawyers and many others are governed by regulatory bodies created to uphold technical competence and ethical standards. Instead of focusing on those core responsibilities, however, many regulators have begun embedding political or ideological content into mandatory courses, codes of ethics and continuing education requirements.
At the same time, professionals are increasingly being investigated or disciplined not for misconduct, but for expressing personal views or declining to endorse political positions.
To help Canadians take action, the Justice Centre has created an online tool with a ready-to-send letter that goes directly to the provincial representatives responsible for the relevant legislation. All the user needs to do is select their province and enter their information, and the tool automatically delivers the letter to the appropriate recipient.
The prepared letter outlines three essential legislative amendments:
- prohibiting regulatory bodies from pursuing political objectives;
- prohibiting regulators from monitoring or controlling the speech of their members; and
- prohibiting regulators from embedding political or ideological content into definitions of competence and ethics.
Alberta is the first province to take meaningful steps toward addressing this growing problem. Its proposed legislation, called the Regulated Professions Amendment Act, is designed to prevent regulators from compelling speech, advancing political objectives or embedding ideology into definitions of competence and ethics.
The Justice Centre encourages all Canadians to visit our website today to take action and help protect the independence of regulated professionals.
Censorship Industrial Complex
Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis slams Liberal plan targeting religious exemption in hate speech bil
From LifeSiteNews
Bill C-9 is being called an attempt to criminalize sections of the Bible, Quran, Torah, and other sacred texts in Canada.
Canadian Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis blasted a federal government plan to criminalize parts of the Bible as an attack on “Christians,” warning it sets a “dangerous precedent” for Canadian society.
“The Liberal government has agreed to remove the religious exemption in their hate speech bill, C-9, to secure Bloc support and push this bill through Parliament,” Lewis wrote Tuesday on X.
“This is not a minor adjustment. This shift comes at the direct expense of Christians and other religious communities across Canada.”
As reported by LifeSiteNews, a government insider revealed that the Liberal government of Prime Minister Mark Carney plans to remove religious exemptions from Canada’s hate-speech laws by modifying a bill.
Bill C-9, the Combating Hate Act, as reported by LifeSiteNews, has been blasted by constitutional experts as allowing empowered police and the government to go after those it deems have violated a person’s “feelings” in a “hateful” way.
A recent media report states that the Carney Liberals and the separatist Bloc Québécois want to amend Bill C-9, which would “criminalize sections of the Bible, Quran, Torah, and other sacred texts,” Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre noted yesterday on X.
Lewis warned that “no government” should “ever negotiate away religious liberty in exchange for political support.”
“No party should decide which beliefs are acceptable and which ones carry criminal risk,” she warned.
She added that the Liberal government of Carney’s plan to amend Bill C-9 is a “dangerous precedent.”
“Religious freedom is not a political tool. It is a Charter right, a constitutional protection, and a cornerstone of our society,” she warned.
Poilievre blasted the Liberals’ plan as well, warning Liberal-Bloc amendments to C-9 will “criminalize sections of the Bible, Quran, Torah, and other sacred texts.”
“Conservatives will oppose this latest Liberal assault on freedom of expression and religion,” he noted on X earlier this week.
In response, the party launched a petition over fear that religious texts could be criminalized.
Liberal MP Marc Miller had said earlier in the year that certain passages of the Bible are “hateful” because of what it says about homosexuality and those who recite the passages should be jailed. As reported by LifeSiteNews, he was recently appointed as a government minister by Prime Minister Mark Carney.
-
Alberta1 day agoAlberta Sports Hall of Fame Announces Class of 2026 Inductees
-
Business1 day agoCanada’s climate agenda hit business hard but barely cut emissions
-
MAiD2 days agoFrom Exception to Routine. Why Canada’s State-Assisted Suicide Regime Demands a Human-Rights Review
-
Automotive2 days agoPower Struggle: Governments start quietly backing away from EV mandates
-
Business1 day agoIs Carney Falling Into The Same Fiscal Traps As Trudeau?
-
Alberta1 day agoCarney’s pipeline deal hits a wall in B.C.
-
Alberta2 days agoThis new Canada–Alberta pipeline agreement will cost you more than you think
-
Energy2 days agoUnceded is uncertain


