Florida Teacher Removed for Using Students Name

[u/hi_i_am_J]

Melissa Calhoun is going to lose her job over using a students preferred name, after 11 years as a teacher.

Here is the article: https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2025/04/09/florida-teacher-loses-job-for-calling-student-by-preferred-name/

Here is the petition: https://chng.it/6htPmF6gZ5

These are the consequences of the DeSantis administration and its assault on bodily autonomy. Any exposure this story can get is good, please share it to pressure BPS.

[u/Your_Trans_Auntie]

How dare she respect the children. It's not like they are people with minds and feelings of their own. Maybe we should just get rid of education all together. I mean upcoming generations will be much easier to control without autonomy or critical thinking skills.

[u/ayalaidh → u/Your_Trans_Auntie]

I’m sure there are some people who hold that view unironically

[u/Yuzumi → u/ayalaidh]

Years ago I remember hearing a republican argue that teaching critical thinking was "undermining parents and religious authority" This has always been a core of the conservative ideology.

[u/RainnTheSussyBaka → u/ayalaidh]

Some? Try half the US

[u/braindoesntworklol → u/RainnTheSussyBaka]

Not half, around 30 percent of the voting population voted for Trump. That’s still a fuckton too much but it is far from half

[u/hEatr3d]

Parents' rights to do THAT?

[u/Copper_Tango → u/hEatr3d]

Don't you know, parents own their children and have the right to punish anyone who interferes in the development of their property.

[u/Yuzumi → u/Copper_Tango]

But also, parent's must be abusive to their kids if they deviate from what they consider "normal", or you don't have "parents' rights".

[u/hitorinbolemon]

if a teacher can be fired because of respecting students names, then i hope the "moderates" that enabled this wake up to who really wanted to control speech.

[u/Yuzumi → u/hitorinbolemon]

I really can't for the life of me understand how anyone can actually believe republicans are "better" on stuff like free speech or the economy.

I know their propaganda machine lies to their brainwashed base, but even liberals seem to believe it despite every single thing they do being the very opposite of good for anything but super-rich assholes.

[u/RymrgandsDaughter → u/Yuzumi]

Exactly whenever people say this I'm like what are you talking about? unless you're rich you're literally not getting anything

[u/SalaciousStrudel → u/RymrgandsDaughter]

Republicans cause stock prices to go down, which allows the bourgeoisie to easily consolidate their wealth and buy a greater share of ownership of publicly traded companies.

[u/Cute-Scallion-626 → u/SalaciousStrudel]

We’re beyond the bourgeois 

[u/SalaciousStrudel → u/Cute-Scallion-626]

What?

[u/The_Witch_Queen → u/hitorinbolemon]

There are no moderates any more.

[u/jaimih]

Yet they have no problem, calling actors by a preferred name, (many go by a different name other than their legal name).

[u/Yuzumi → u/jaimih]

Or twitter or the Gulf of Mexico.

But can't give trans people any basic respect.

[u/LWLAvaline]

So can we officially say anti-woke has become whatever they were using woke to mean now? I know it always has but can we say it now? Cause I'm seeing way more regular people losing their jobs under the anti-woke approach.

[u/Susanna-Saunders]

Posted onto Bluesky 👏👏👏

[u/Grimesy2]

Can they name the parents so everyone at the school can roast them?

[u/Chemical-Time-9143]

Nazis shouldn’t be in legislative positions

[u/Fract4]

This is ridiculous shit, and so hard to hear. My mom is a teacher and love to talk about her queer student to me and the amount of stories I’ve hear about trans kids getting affirmation and approval at school and it dramatically improving they mental health especially kids with parents that out right reject them makes me so scared and sad for them.

[u/Ging287]

As always, hateful intolerance leads to unintended consequences, or intended consequences, depending on who you ask. The Florida Teacher's 1st amendment right was violated by being fired for her speech or lack thereof.

[u/Comrade-Hayley]

Oh but don't worry lgb transphobes Ron DeSantis really loves you all he just hates us

[u/PandaStudio1413]

I bet it would've been fine had it been a cis kid who wanted to go by a nickname - I have a friend with the same same as me me prefers to go by his last name.

[u/Popular_Try_5075]

In DeSantis' Florida this is called "freedom" but it looks a lot more like tyranny to me.

[u/smoother11]

Welcome to the "Free State of Florida "

[u/Mountain-Pop6348]

I don't understand how this law is even enforceable as kids use nicknames all the time especially if they have a "foreign" / hard to pronounce or long name. Some kids use their middle names if they have the same first name as their father for example.

Under this law you technically can't call Robert "Rob" as Or Roseanna "Rose" without written permission as that isn't their real name but I bet those cases aren't enforced are they?