Va. judge throws out suspension of teacher who said he would not use trans students' pronouns

A Virginia judge on Tuesday ruled that a Loudoun County teacher who refused to use the current names and pronouns of transgender students should immediately return to work, the Washington Post reports.

The big picture: A handful of states are considering bills brought by Republican lawmakers to bar schools from teaching about gender identity and in some cases, to prevent teachers from using pronouns that match a student's gender.

• The bills focused on education are a part of a wide-ranging effort to legislate how transgender youth can participate in sports and receive transition-related health care.

Catch up quick: 20th Circuit Judge James E. Plowman Jr. found that the Loudoun County Public Schools system had taken "an unconstitutional action" in disciplining teacher Tanner Cross.

• Cross, a physical education teacher, has brought an ongoing lawsuit against the school district in response to being barred from the school grounds and placed on paid leave, per the Post.
• He was suspended after saying at a school board meeting in late May that he would never “affirm that a biological boy can be a girl, and vice versa," citing his Christian faith.