The 3 - January 28, 2024

This week's edition of The 3, featuring three stories of relevance to the Christian community, spotlights a story out of California, where two teachers had sued their school district due to a policy that requires teachers who have knowledge of a student's "gender transition" to not tell the parents; they were put on leave, and not reinstated by a federal judge.  Also, a chaplain at a college in the U.K. who had lost his job because of a speech against LGBT ideology, has experienced affirmation from a third governing body, but his local church officials will not allow him to work with children.  Plus, a Maine legislative committee was unable to get even a single vote on a bill that would permit children to be removed from homes due to their parent's refusal to affirm their transgender identity.

Teachers put on leave because of objections to keep secrets from parents reinstated

Two teachers at Rincon Middle School in Escondido, California, have received their jobs back, as of January 16, thanks to a federal judge's directive.  CBN.com reported that Elizabeth Mirabelli and Lori Ann West sued the Escondido Unified School District "...and the state's department of education after the administration established a policy that required teachers to not only address trans-identifying students by their preferred pronoun, but it required them to hide from parents their student's gender confusion."

The article goes on to say that, "West and Mirabelli requested a religious accommodation against the policy but were only granted the accommodation for how they addressed students."  They were placed on administrative leave for opposing the policy.

CBN states:

"I believe in the teachings of the Bible," West told Fox News. "(Mirabelli and I) follow the laws in the Bible, and that's a wonderful thing. And it seems like, at my school, we have been put down for that. They want to stifle our voices."

Mirabelli contacted the Thomas More Society and attorneys filed a federal complaint against the school district and the state board.

Judge Roger Benitez of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California issued a preliminary injunction last September in favor of Mirabelli and West.

He "ordered the teachers be reinstated into their positions."  The district didn't comply, so the judge ordered the district to reinstate the teachers by January 16.

Chaplain in UK who was fired due to opposition to LGBT agenda defended by third governmental body, still rejected by Church

Bernard Randall is a chaplain ordained by the Church of England - he was, according to The Christian Post, "...sacked by Trent College in Derbyshire after he preached a sermon to pupils in the school chapel in which he expressed the church's own official position on marriage and human sexuality."

A governing body in the U.K., the Disclosure and Barring Service has stated, "'it would not be appropriate' to take action against Bernard Randall...," according to the article, making it possible for Randall to work with children. Two other bodies: "the government's anti-terrorism program, Prevent, and the Teaching Regulation Agency," have likewise not taken action against Randall."

But the Church of England has not been so charitable.  The Christian Post article states...

...the Church of England Diocese of Derby, after carrying out its own safeguarding investigation into Randall, concluded that he posed a "moderate risk to children" and vulnerable adults. Bizarrely, the diocese's safeguarding team concluded that "the Church itself is a risk factor." He has not been allowed to officiate in church services since.

Randall said, "...By blacklisting me as a safeguarding risk to children, the CofE at the highest level, and locally, has been complicit in allowing the far-left Queer Theory agenda of E&C and similar groups in our schools."

Maine legislative committee fails to garner even one vote for transgender custody bill

A bill was filed in The House of Representatives in the state of Maine which would protect a person who removes a child from parents who do not support the child's identification as transgender and subjects the child to harmful procedures that are falsely described as helping a child change his or her "gender."  According to a report at The Daily Signal:

The Maine bill, LD 1735, would prioritize “gender-affirming care” in custody disputes. It would prohibit courts from considering that a person applying for custody had taken a child from someone else with legal custody—such as parents—if that person removed the child “for the purposes of obtaining gender-affirming health care… for the child” from a state that restricts this experimental “care.”

The article goes on to say, "The bill would grant Maine courts 'temporary emergency jurisdiction' in cases where the child must be protected 'because the child has been unable to obtain gender-affirming health care or gender-affirming mental health care.'”

But the bill has dramatically failed to advance, according to the article, which says that last week:

A joint standing legislative committee between the Maine House of Representatives and the Maine Senate voted that the transgender custody bill LD 1735 “ought not to pass” Thursday.

According to footage of the committee posted online, the motion that the bill “ought not to pass” passed 12-0.

Rep. Katrina Smith, a member of the committee, stated, “Today we won a victory for our children who have been fooled into thinking they are not perfect the way God made them,” adding, “With the death of LD 1735 we have proven that when evil is brought out of the darkness and exposed in the light, it can be vanquished. The people spoke loudly and it mattered.”