School districts sued for banning books that teach sex is real, crucifix from educators' offices

What happens when the opponents of so-called book bans come across a book they dislike? 

If it's transgender lawyer Chase Strangio of the ACLU, which recently sued the Department of Defense for removing "gender ideology" books from military school libraries, and journalist Abigail Shrier's book critical of gender ideology, Strangio's answer is banning its circulation.

While Oregon's InterMountain Education Service District doesn't have the legal, cultural or commercial power to ban gender-critical books, as Target initially did to Shrier's Irreversible Damage, it threatened to fire educational specialist Roderick Theis if he didn't remove them from view in his offices, according to a new First Amendment lawsuit.

IMESD, which serves 17 school districts in four rural counties, deemed the display of conservative commentator Matt Walsh's Johnny the Walrus and Christian writers Ryan and Bethany Bomberger's He is He and She is She to be "a hostile expression of animus toward another person relating to their actual or perceived gender identity," the suit says.

Such display violates a bias policy that defines "persons impacted" by a bias incident as "the community of students as a whole" as well as "persons directly targeted," meaning IMESD doesn't have to find a specific harmed person or group, according to the suit.

Even though IMESD policy lets employees decorate their offices with "personal items conveying a multitude of messages" including political, "such as statements in support of Oregon public educators’ unions," Theis said it banned his books based on one employee's complaint that they were "transphobic," with no disruption or complaints from students or other staff.

Yet school classrooms are full of books that feature "violence, suicide, explicit language, domestic abuse, drug and alcohol use, and sexual content," while others "reference same-sex relationships or feature non-binary characters," Theis said.

He's suing the board of directors, Superintendent Mark Mulvihill and Director of Human Resources Aimee VanNice in their official capacities. A 72-page exhibit list includes the directive following his bias incident investigation and his notes contesting its findings, the outside consultant's findings in Theis's appeal, and his correspondence with officials.

The district's lawyer Kurt Peterson, whose email signature includes his preferred pronouns, scolded Just the News for contacting Mulvihill directly even though Peterson isn't yet listed in the court docket and not identified on the district staff page.

"As you are aware, litigation is pending and therefore the District will not comment on it," Peterson wrote in an email.

The allegedly targeted book ban comes as the Beaver State considers setting a high bar for school districts' ability to remove books from library shelves as age-inappropriate, through a "freedom to read" bill supported by Strangio's ACLU.

The Oregon House twice censored state GOP Rep. Dwayne Yunker in a floor "remonstrance" against SB 1098, which squeaked through the House Education Committee on Wednesday, for reading aloud a sexually graphic passage from a book in his district's school library, and its Legislative Equity Office opened a related "hostile work environment" probe.

While less well-known than Walsh, who went Hollywood with What Is a Woman? and Am I Racist?, Ryan Bomberger has a reputation as a provocateur in his pro-life activism, which targets black civil rights groups for supporting "black genocide," the argument that since 1973 abortion has killed more African-Americans than any other cause.

The NAACP unsuccessfully sued the biracial activist's Radiance Foundation for trademark infringement for calling it the "National Association for the Abortion of Colored People."

Conceived in rape and adopted, Bomberger is a magnet for protest on campus. Student government leaders at a Christian college publicly denounced him for his talk "Black Lives Matter In and Out of the Womb" and a protester set off a smoke bomb at his University of Texas Austin event, both organized by campus Republican clubs.

Showed media her evaluations after lawsuit

The IMESD suit, filed by the Alliance Defending Freedom, is the second recent litigation against a district for prohibiting a teacher's expression on seemingly ideological grounds.

Connecticut teacher Marisol Arroyo-Castro sued the Consolidated School District of New Britain in January for allegedly suspending, demoting and threatening to fire her for keeping a "small crucifix" on the wall next to her classroom desk, which has been there for 10 years with "a Yankees pennant and family photos," according to her First Liberty Institute lawyers.

Like IMESD and Theis, the 32-year veteran alleges teachers are allowed to display a wide variety of personal items including "a mug referencing a Bible verse" but that administrators seemingly singled out her crucifix as a Catholic object prohibited for display under the Establishment Clause, calling it an "idol" and questioning her faith.

After Arroyo-Castro sued, the district released her "confidential administrative records" to the media under Connecticut's public records law, which actually prohibits release of "teacher performance and evaluation" records, First Liberty told the district in a warning letter. 

Those records shared Vice Principal Andrew Mazzei's "generally negative opinion" of Arroyo-Castro's teaching style and his "attempts to coach her," and the disciplinary threats against her have not been "premised in any way on the allegations in these notes," the letter says.

The parties were in federal court May 13 for a preliminary injunction hearing, with no ruling as of Friday. The district's April 14 answer to her complaint is largely a series of short responses to her claims, including rejections that her crucifix was "small" and that Principal Dario Soto called it an "idol" at odds with staying "true" to being a Christian.

'Why can’t Johnny be a walrus?'

Theis's lawsuit says he bought the books after seeing one of the authors speak in Pendleton, known to the rest of America for its premium wool products, and feeling "inspired by the author’s message of hope for children regarding their God-designed purpose." 

He displayed the Bomberger books in his La Grande Middle School office and the Walsh book in his Elgin and Union School District offices.

IMESD discriminates based on viewpoint by forbidding employees "from expressing a biological view of sex" but not "that a person’s subjective identity determines whether a person is male or female," and chilling Theis's speech by subjecting him to "escalating discipline up to and including termination of his employment" for displaying the books, according to the Theis's complaint.

A licensed clinical social worker in IMESD since 2008, Theis said he travels among schools to conduct one-on-one "individual standardized tests" with students. He is a Christian who believes "people should accept their God-given sex and not seek to reject or change it."

While some colleagues decorate their offices with children's books, art, inspirational quotes and flags, others publicly promote the Oregon Education Association, "which pushes the use of gender-neutral pronouns when referring to students" and warns its union members against misgendering, the suit says.

The union offers members "Activism through Art" posters to download and promote such as "LGBTQ+ Justice Now!" and "Classrooms not cages," referring to immigration policy. Colleagues in one of his schools displayed a pride flag, a Black Lives Matter poster and a sticker for the anti-President Trump Oregon School Counselors Association.

LGMS Principal Chris Wagner called in Theis to discuss the Bomberger books Oct. 23, citing a staff complaint while admitting "he did not find anything offensive or inappropriate in them" except for Bible verses – not visible on the covers – that "could be considered pushing a certain point of view on a student." He ordered Theis to remove them.

The following week, HR Director VanNice grilled him about the content of the books, including the Bible passages and scientific discussion of biological sex – which students couldn't see while they were displayed – and asked Theis how these books could support transgender students, despite his assurance he doesn't use the books with students.

Theis could only recall one student who asked about the Walsh book, which he explained to the student. VanNice responded, according to the suit, "Why can’t Johnny be a walrus?"