Award Winning Gay California Teacher Suspended for Speaking Out Against Transgenderism

Transgender individuals are supposedly oppressed  but it often seems that it is anybody who criticizes them who actually gets bullied, harassed or fired.

But last week veteran educator Ray Shelton, who was banished from school grounds and suspended after he sharply criticized transgenderism at a school board meeting, scored a victory when a federal judge ruled that his lawsuit against the Glendale School District for First Amendment violations can proceed.

United States District Court Judge for the Central District of California Judge Consuelo Marshall ruled that Shelton had presented sufficient  evidence that school officials had retaliated against him for his pugnacious speech meant to deride the District’s policy allowing schools to keep kids’ gender transitions secret from parents.

Marshall wrote that “the facts alleged indicate it is plausible that” the school principal and other administrators “were involved in the alleged retaliation.”

Los Angeles lawyer David Pivtorak, who is representing Shelton, told the California Globe that, “I believe that the ruling correctly assessed the complaint’s factual allegations and found that they were sufficiently well-pled to state a cause of action against the named defendants.”

“From the beginning, we’ve said that this case sought to uphold the long-established right of a teacher to speak out publicly as a private citizen against school policies that he believes are wrong and harmful to the children in the community,” he emailed. “This First Amendment principle has been the law of the land for at least 50 years and has been repeatedly affirmed by the Supreme Court. Ray’s case is no different and we hope that it serves to further strengthen the free speech jurisprudence in this country.”

Before he was bludgeoned for speaking his mind Shelton, a teacher for 25 years,  had been an award-winning teacher at the Mark Keppel Elementary School.  He had twice won the Glendale School District “Teacher of Year” award  and just been awarded the PTA’s Golden Oak Award.

His lawsuit, first filed in December 2023, names as defendants Glendale Unified School District Superintendent Vivian Ekchian, HR director Darneika Watson, Mark Keppel Elementary School Principal Kristine Tonoli and members of the Glendale School Board because they approved his suspension.

The complaint says that “Mr. Shelton’s speech regarding political and social issues, including his speech about Glendale School District policies, constitute speech and petition on matters of public concern protected by the First Amendment from viewpoint discrimination. The First Amendment also protects Mr. Shelton’s right to present his views in the ways that he chooses, including his choice of words and images, regardless of whether others would find his speech disagreeable or offensive.”

The lawsuit makes clear that Shelton was aghast at the way transgender orthodoxy had taken hold at the Glendale Unified School District.

To his chagrin the District “has implemented policies that “include, but are not limited to, keeping a secret file on students who have decided to use pronouns that do not correspond to their natal sex and a ‘preferred’ cross-sex name which is different from their given one; permitting natal males, who ‘identify’ as the opposite sex, to use girls’ locker rooms and bathrooms at school; mandating that teachers and students use ‘preferred pronouns’ regardless of natal sex, even if this violates the users’ deeply held religious or personal beliefs; and teaching elementary school children about various sexual positions It is also GUSD’s policy to conceal all of this information from parents.”

“Mr. Shelton opposes these policies and believes that children do not have a fully developed capacity to understand the long-term consequences of their decisions, especially when it comes to sex and identity.  He also believes that parents must be intimately involved in any serious decisions involving their children and that these policies threaten their fundamental right to control the upbringing and education of their children.”

Moreover, “As a gay man, Mr. Shelton also believes that GUSD’s Sex-Change Policies cause harm to gay people because they are a form of gay conversion therapy that attempt to convince individuals they are “born in the wrong body” rather than simply attracted to the same sex.”

The fracas dates to a school board meeting on April 18, 2023 where Shelton showed up wearing a t-shirt that said “Make Biology Great Again.”

He also brought a placard of an internet meme designed to mock the LGBT movement as oppressive and authoritarian: four LGBT flags positioned and highlighted in such a way that they form a swastika.

And when it was Shelton’s turn to talk at the meeting he really unloaded.

“Two plus two equals four, “ he declared. “The world is not flat. Boys have penises; girls have vaginas. Gender is binary and cannot be changed. Biology is not bigotry. “Heterosexuality is not hate. Gender confusion and gender delusion are deep psychological disorders.

“No caring professional or loving parent would ever support the chemical poisoning or surgical mutilation of a child’s genitalia.

“Transgender ideology is anti-gay, it is anti-woman, and it is anti-human. It wants to take away women’s sports, women’s rights, women’s achievements. It is misogyny writ large.

“And I can also say this as a gay man, the gay people …”

At that point his microphone was muted. But the audience cheered.

The repercussions, however, from woke school officials were fast and furious.

The next morning when Shelton was with his fifth grade students about to enter his classroom Principal Tonoli showed up and told him to go to her office. There,  Tonoli told him he was being investigated for unspecified “misconduct” and gave him a letter from the HR director saying he was being placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation.

Tonoli then sent an email to the entire Mark Keppel Elementary School community accusing Shelton of “hate speech” at the board meeting.

He was later barred from school grounds and not even allowed to attend his students’ fifth grade graduation ceremonies.

Shelton chose to retire at the end of the school year. His lawyer does not want him explicating his reason for that decision because it is material to ongoing litigation.

In its motion to dismiss, the School District claimed that Shelton was not punished for his speech at the board meeting,  but rather, because he held up a “swastika” there.

In his reply, Shelton’s lawyer, David Pivtorak dispatched that argument.

The facts, Pivtorak wrote, “show that this is a misrepresentation. First, what Defendants falsely call a ”swastika” is actually a popular internet meme that satirizes swastikas and everything they represent. This meme depicts four unaltered rainbow “Progress Pride Flags” arranged in a pinwheel shape. This flag is the official symbol of the divisive political ideology driving the Pride celebrations at GUSD. It is also the symbolic representation of the Sex-Change policies in the District.  On its face, this meme represents a criticism of the totalitarian way in which GUSD’s political ideology, and the policies that flow from it—like the Sex-Change Policies—is enforced. Specifically, a hectoring authoritarianism that silences dissent and uses the power of the state to punish opposition.”

“An irony that is obviously lost on the defendants.”

Judge Marshall’s ruling allowing the case to proceed was welcomed by Gays Against Groomers, which abhors transgender orthodoxy. In an exclusive statement to the California Globe, Gays Against Groomers founder and president Jaimee Michell,  hailed Shelton for fighting a noble fight.

”We stand firmly in support of Ray Shelton, a dedicated educator who has faced unwarranted repercussions for voicing legitimate concerns about policies that affect the well-being of students,” she said. “Ray Shelton’s courage in speaking out against the indoctrination of children with transgender ideology at a school board meeting exemplifies the very essence of advocacy for truth and protection of minors.”

Additionally, his “suspension and the subsequent legal battle are emblematic of a broader issue where educators are penalized for upholding biological realities and child safety over ideological conformity. We commend Mr. Shelton for his bravery in challenging these policies, even at great personal and professional risk. It is crucial that educators like Ray have the right to express concerns about educational policies that they believe are not in the best interest of their students.”

Shelton told the California Globe that when he learned the judge allowed the lawsuit to proceed “my personal reaction was elation and eternal gratitude” to his lawyer David Pivtorak and the Murrieta, California-based Advocates for Faith and Freedom law firm that is also representing him.

He said his lawsuit was upholding the “principle of being able to speak freely in a public forum” which is “critical to what a free society is.”

But he noted he paid a heavy price for speaking out . “My whole life has been dedicated to the protection and safety of my students. I’ve won every award that is possible.”

But “there is a terrible loss. My reputation was dragged through the mud. My life was threatened. I have been constantly harassed. No [prospective employers] will touch me. They made me a pariah.”

“For simply speaking out in defense of children they have done everything possible to destroy me,” he continued. “They hurt me quite a bit.”

Advocates for Faith and Freedom lawyer Kelly Rickert told the California Globe, “I was very happy and pleased with the ruling. In a free society each and every American needs to feel they can express themselves without fear of retaliation by the government. We are very excited to proceed with discovery.”

The Glendale Unified School District media office said, “The District is not able to provide a comment as this is a confidential personnel matter.”