Virginia school district reinstates teacher fired over private Christian views on gender

February 3, 2025

A substitute teacher who was removed after Virginia school board officials discovered her religious views on gender ideology, has been reinstated.

According to the Christian Post, the teacher, identified as Lindsay Rich, was restored following an intervention by the nonprofit Christian legal group Liberty Counsel.

Rich was escorted from her assignment in September 2024, just two hours after arriving for work and was removed from the teaching list after a closed meeting by the school board.

Rich had opposed male students being allowed to enter facilities reserved for female students and that her religious views informed her belief that God created humans as male and female.

Rich had been a candidate in a contentious school board election which she narrowly lost.

She later applied to be a substitute teacher and was approved and assigned to a class after passing a background check.

The substitute teacher told the Daily Signal, “I was absolutely shocked when the school board violated its own policy by taking action in closed session to strike my name from the personnel list before coming out in open session to vote.”

The Christian Post reports that Liberty Counsel sent a letter to the district citing the Virginia Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the “Virginia Values Act,” asserting that it is unlawful for employers to take hostile action against individuals because of their religious expression.

Liberty Counsel founder and Chairman Mat Staver stated: “The First Amendment guarantees a teacher’s right to speak according to his or her religious beliefs and political values. The school district corrected a potentially costly mistake. Teachers have a right to express their conscience and religious beliefs in their private capacity without fear of retribution from their employer.”

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