Nashville Teacher Threatened With Termination Over LGBT-Themed Book Refusal

February 23, 2026

A Christian educator at a Nashville public charter school, says he was threatened with termination after requesting a religious accommodation that would have allowed him to abstain from reading LGBT material to his first-grade students.

Christianity Daily reports that Eric Rivera, who taught at KIPP Antioch College Prep Elementary School, says school administrators responded to his request with a “Final Warning” letter that included a threat of termination.

According to a letter sent to school officials last week by the legal nonprofit First Liberty Institute, Rivera asked for a religious accommodation after reviewing his his Language Arts curriculum and finding a book that included a same-sex couple raising a child.

The teacher reportedly told administrators that reading and leading a discussion about the book with his first-grade students would violate his conscience.

Rivera, who previously had received no disciplinary notices or warnings, says he was called into the principal’s office and given a “Final Warning” letter that included a threat of termination.

In a statement to the Christian Post, Cliff Martin, senior counsel at First Liberty Institute, said, “Requiring a teacher violate their religious beliefs in order to keep their job is blatant discrimination that violates the Civil Rights Act.”

Martin added, “Our client cares deeply about his students and simply has a religious objection to teaching certain lessons and asked for a simple religious accommodation. The school has sent the message that anyone who has a traditional view of marriage is unfit to teach first grade.”

According to Christianity Daily, Rivera accepted two different teaching positions following the incident.

Tennessee Public Charter School Commission said, in a statement to WZTV, that charter schools must adhere to the same academic standards as traditional public schools.

The U.S. Supreme Court, last year, ruled in a case involving Maryland parents that families may opt their children out of certain LGBT-themed instructional materials that conflict with their religious beliefs.

Photo: top, Credit: Unsplash/Bernd Dittrich