A Christian teacher has been fired from her job after she refused to comply with the California school district’s policy of hiding children’s “gender transitions” from their parents.
Jessica Tapias, who worked at the Jurupa Unified School District, argues that the policy conflicts with her Christian beliefs.
After being fired from the job she loved, Tapias is now blowing the whistle on the district’s “woke” agenda.
Tapias says she felt pressured to not only hide students’ gender transitions from parents but also to keep families in the dark through lying.
“I knew immediately, like in my gut, in my heart, in my soul, that there was a decision I had to make because, you know, these two things were totally butting heads,” Tapias told Fox News.
“I essentially had to pick one.
“Am I going to obey the district in the directive that are not lining up with… my own beliefs, convictions, and faith?
“Or am I going to stay true…, choose my faith, choose to be obedient to… the way the Lord has called me to live.
“And so it was crazy to be in the position where I realized that I couldn’t be a Christian and a teacher.”
In a notice under Superintendent Trenton Hansen’s letterhead, the district said they couldn’t accommodate Tapias’ Christian beliefs.
Hansen claims Tapias is not suitable to teach children because faith prohibited her from withholding information on gender transitions from kids’ parents.
“Consequentially, the District will release you from your employment effective at the end of the day on January 31, 2023,” the notice said.
“Based on your religious beliefs, you cannot be dishonest with parents…
“If asked about a student’s gender identity by a parent, you cannot refer the parent to a counselor, defer the inquiry and suggest they speak with a student…, or otherwise deflect the parent’s inquiry,” the letter, signed by the assistant superintendent of human resources, Daniel Brooks, said.
“The district cannot accommodate your religious beliefs that… prohibit you from maintaining a student’s gender identity and refraining from disclosing a student’s gender identity from his/her/their parent(s)/guardians,” it continued.
Tapias said, “According to my school district, students have privacy.
“And so if a student shares information regarding a pronoun preference or thinking there may be the opposite gender of what they biologically are, if they share that information with a teacher, we are supposed to keep that info from parents in case the parent doesn’t know.”
“And there’s so many issues with that.
“How do we know the parent doesn’t know?
“Number two, …we’re talking [about] 12, 13, 14, 15-year-olds.
“I don’t believe [kids] should have this ‘privacy’ to where their parents are being left in the dark about some very pertinent information about their well-being.”
Tapias, as a physical education teacher, also refused to allow “male genitals” in the girls’ locker room, in opposition to district policy.
“I don’t believe in my faith that that’s how God’s calling us to love by affirming those lies and confusion,” Tapias said.
“I believe firmly that God created man and woman, and you are who he made you to be.
“And when someone has confusion about that, I believe that’s lies and confusion from the devil.”
Tapias said she originally went into teaching because she loved the idea of helping and supporting kids.
“The biggest reason was to make an impact,” she said.
“I thought how amazing it would be to be a light to [kids] possibly coming from very rough homes like I did when I was a child.
“And so it was just so exciting for them to get to work in a field where it was just way beyond a paycheck, [where I would be] able to make a difference in a way that was priceless on young lives.”
She added, “We’re talking about children.
“This is a very moldable time in life… [when] the brain is developing and it’s so important that you have… good people to look up to, good models in your life, good teaching.”
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Tapias said she has retained an attorney and intends to sue.
“We are waiting for a right-to-sue letter from the [U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission], and then we will proceed from there.”
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