Teacher Who Disputed School's Transgender Policy Placed On Leave

LEESBURG, VA — A Loudoun County teacher was placed on administrative leave with pay, according to Loudoun County Public Schools. The teacher, Tanner Cross of Leesburg Elementary School, expressed his resistance to a policy about transgender students at a school board meeting on Tuesday.

Due to confidentiality statutes, the school system could not disclose the exact reason Cross, a physical education teacher, was placed on administrative leave.

At the Loudoun County School Board meeting on Tuesday, Cross expressed his discomfort with policy 8040, which requires teachers to use a student's preferred pronouns.

"LCPS staff shall allow gender-expansive or transgender students to use their chosen name and gender pronouns, regardless of the name and gender recorded in the student’s permanent educational record" the policy says.

"I am speaking out of love for those who suffer from gender dysphoria," Cross said at the meeting. "It is not my intention to hurt anyone."

Cross went on to note his direct opposition to certain district policies. "We condemn school policies like 8040 and 8035 because it will damage children and defile the holy image of God," he said. "I love all my students, but I will never lie to them, regardless of the consequences."

Affirming the identity of transgender children was counter to his religious beliefs, Cross added, and a sin.

"I'm a teacher, but I serve God first," he said. "I will not affirm that a biological boy can be a girl and vice versa. It's against my religion, it's lying to a child, it's abuse to a child, and it's sinning against our God."

After Tuesday's school board meeting, Cross was placed on administrative leave with pay for undisclosed reasons. The school system said his classes would be taught by substitute teachers who are already in the building.

Transgender and non-binary children are significantly more likely to consider and attempt suicide, according to the Trevor Project.

However, research has shown that allowing children to socially transition improves their mental health outcomes. A study in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry showed that transgender children who are allowed to socially transition had similar levels of depression and self worth as their cisgender peers.