Southern California Teachers Stand Up to Gender Policies Despite Retaliation

Both teachers have decided to retire but are still seeking injunctive relief, as they plan on being substitute teachers.

(L–R) Teacher Lori Ann West, attorney Paul Jonna, and teacher Elizabeth Mirabelli. A federal judge in 2023 blocked a school district in Escondido, Calif., from punishing the two teachers for refusing to keep gender transitions of students secret from their parents. Courtesy of Paul Jonna

Southern California middle school teachers Elizabeth Mirabelli and Lori Ann West have stood up to new gender policies that required teachers to keep students’ gender transitions a secret from others, including their parents.

The policies rolled out by Escondido Union School District (EUSD) in late 2021 also required teachers to address students who identify as transgender by their preferred names and pronouns, and they allowed students to use the restroom that corresponds with their gender identity rather than their sex.