A teacher at the Florida Virtual School (FLVS), an online public school, was fired after using the gender-neutral honorific "Mx." instead of "Ms." or "Mr." in school communications.
Going by the name "AV Vary," the teacher taught high school science there until Oct. 24. Vary has 15 years of experience teaching and had previously taught in Maryland.
"I am a human being. ... I have feelings, and my goals in life are positive ones. I want to see my students be successful in however they define success," Vary told USA Today. "Yeah, this is a fight for my rights. But this is also a fight for the kindness, compassion, and respect for every individual in the country."
Vary filed a complaint Wednesday with the Florida Commission on Human Relations and the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that FLVS discriminated based on gender identity.
FLVS issued a statement in response to the accusation it discriminated against Vary and thus violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The school argued it was just following rules set forth by the state, specifically "section 1000.071(3) of the Florida Statutes pertaining to the use of Personal Titles and Pronouns" for Florida public schools.
Before switching over to the gender-neutral "Mx." title, Vary previously went by "Mrs." and "Professor," Vary said.
Vary also admitted that the complaint is a direct attempt to challenge Florida's controversial Parental Rights in Education Act and its subsequent expansion.
The law prohibited Florida public schools from instructing about sexual orientation or gender identity from kindergarten through third grade.
It also barred schools from holding information about their child's alleged sexuality from parents.
"When this legislation came out, it was important to me to signal to my marginalized students that I was still a safe place, I was still a safe adult to talk to," Vary said.