1. United States
2. Mich.
3. Letter

St. Johns County School District needs to reinstate Shepard Scalf immediately, and I want you to speak out in support of that. Scalf, an intersex Language Arts teacher at Patriot Oaks Academy, was forced to resign during the 2025-2026 school year with no prior warnings, no disciplinary history, and a principal who called his work "nothing less than exemplary." Evidence points to a single parent's false assumption that he was transgender. That is not a reason to end someone's career. Some people are born intersex. That is a biological fact. Scalf has Swyer's Syndrome, an intersex condition involving XY chromosomes. He never discussed his medical history or sex assigned at birth with students or district officials. He was a good teacher doing his job. The ACLU and Chanfrau & Chanfrau have filed an EEOC complaint citing violations of the federal Civil Rights Act, grounded in the Supreme Court's Bostock v. Clayton County ruling, which holds that discrimination based on perceived LGBTQ+ status is sex discrimination. As Scalf said: "It became clear to me that being fired had nothing to do with my qualifications or teaching — it was about who I am." This is not a Florida problem. School districts across the country are pushing out qualified educators based on who they are, and teacher shortages are getting worse everywhere as a result. Publicly call for Scalf's reinstatement and push for federal protections that prevent districts in every state from terminating educators without cause based on sex characteristics.