A school teacher in Indiana says the district forced him to step down because he wasn’t willing to call transgender students by their preferred names due to his Christian faith.
John Kluge, the former orchestra teacher at Brownsburg High School in Brownsburg, Indiana, submitted a tentative letter of resignation late last month because the district threatened to fire him with three weeks remaining in the school year, according to Indy Star, which also reported that he sought to withdraw the letter on the last student day at the school but the school is not letting him stay.
“They’re acting as if I have (resigned), even though I’m pleading, ‘no,'” he was quoted as saying. “I’m not dead yet. I still want to work here.”
Kluge believes he is being “compelled to encourage students in what I believe is something that’s a dangerous lifestyle.”
“I’m fine to teach students with other beliefs, but the fact that teachers are being compelled to speak a certain way is the scary thing,” he was quoted as saying.
During the 2017-2018 school year, the school decided to order teachers to report signs of gender confusion by students to a guidance conselor or an administrator, and not to parents. The school also asked teachers to refer to transgender students as per their preference, and not with names given at birth by their parents.
“Because he will not actively encourage transgender students in their lifestyle, the administration has forced John out of his job against his will,” says an online campaign to save Kluge’s job, launched by the Indiana Family Institute.