Florida Teachers Have No First Amendment Right to Indicate Their Preferred Pronouns and Honorifics in Class

The first step in evaluating the First Amendment claim here is figuring out whether Ms. Wood's use of her preferred personal title and pronouns in the classroom constitutes the private speech of a citizen on a matter of public concern…. That distinction is important, for we have held that the exception to First Amendment protection in Garcetti for 'speech that owes its existence to a public employee's professional responsibilities,' must be read narrowly to encompass speech that an employee made in accordance with or in furtherance of the ordinary responsibilities of her employment, not merely speech that concerns the ordinary responsibilities of her employment. We look to "several types of evidence to guide the analysis, including: the history of the expression at issue; the public's likely perception as to who (the government or a private person) is speaking; and the extent to which the government has actively shaped or controlled the expression."

Author: Eugene Volokh

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