University punishes trans educator for "discrimination" after student calls her "demonic" - LGBTQ Nation

"The University of Oklahoma (OU) put Mel Curth, a transgender teaching assistant (TA), on administrative leave after she gave a student a grade of zero on an essay about gender roles in which the student called trans people "demonic." The student, Samantha Fulnecky, filed a religious discrimination complaint with OU in November. Right-wing influencers and elected state Republicans are now calling for Curth to be fired, with the student's mom saying all trans people should be barred from teaching altogether."

"The assignment's instructions asked students to write a "thoughtful" and "clearly written" 650-word reaction paper to a study about gender typicality (the degree to which a person's perceived behaviors and interests align with societal stereotypes for their gender), peer relations, and mental health. The instructions said the paper should demonstrate a clear "tie-in" to the study and discuss either the topic's importance, its application to one's own experiences, possible alternate interpretations of the study's data, or its relation to other studies and findings in developmental psychology."

"In her paper, Fulnecky wrote that she doesn't see it as a problem when peers use teasing to enforce gender norms and that "eliminating gender in our society would be detrimental, as it pulls us farther from God's original plan for humans," adding, "It is perfectly normal for kids to follow gender 'stereotypes' because that is how God made us.""

A transgender teaching assistant at a public university was placed on administrative leave after assigning a zero to a student essay that called trans people "demonic." The student filed a religious discrimination complaint in November. The incident prompted calls from right-wing influencers and state Republicans for the TA to be fired and public statements from the student's family advocating barring trans people from teaching. The contested assignment required a 650-word reaction to research on gender typicality, peer relations, and mental health and asked students to tie their response to the study and relevant developmental psychology findings.

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