A Florida high school has denied the renewal of a teacher’s contract for the 2025-2026 school year after using a student’s chosen name.
It is of course important to ensure that teachers are kind-hearted, empathetic, and respectful people, but apparently this isn’t the case in Brevard County, Florida. Earlier this month, teacher Melissa Calhoun discovered that she would not continue teaching at Satellite High School in Satellite Beach, Florida. Since she has been using a student’s chosen name this year, Brevard County School opted to cancel her contract.
Cutting off support in small ways in cases like this is another grim reminder that no bell will ring to signal the onslaught of fascism our country faces today. Conservative politicians, like the state’s governor Ron DeSantis, want to take queer rights piece by piece, inch by inch. The parent who reported Calhoun’s use of the student’s preferred name in class to district officials cited House Bill 1069, The Parental Rights in Education Act, a bill that restricts the definition of sex for educators and bans the use of anything other than a student’s legal name. Upon learning of the infraction against DeSantis’ new “Don’t Say Gay” law, the county decided to fire the teacher, who was described as kind-hearted and devoted to teaching on commenters of a petition for Calhoun’s reinstatement.
“Please reinstate her,” reads a comment from the teacher’s former high school teacher, Joanne. “It is unquestionably the right thing to do.” The petition has gained more than 50 thousand signatures, and the next school board meeting saw more than a few people speaking in support of Calhoun and her reinstatement.
Forcefully outing students by disallowing them from going something other than their legal name is certainly not respectful of student’s individuality. Even a student simply going by a nickname must have a “Parental Authroization for Deviation from Student’s Legal Name Form” filled out by a parent. Such restrictive rules are certain to cause more depression among queer teens in school, yet Florida keeps doubling down on its bigoted stance. Disgraceful, but not surprising.
