Texas A&M Lecturer Who Was Fired Over Gender Lesson Sues University

Melissa McCoul, a former Texas A&M lecturer, filed a federal lawsuit saying she was fired after discussing gender identity in a children’s literature class and displaying a gender unicorn. The suit, filed in Federal District Court in Houston, contends the dismissal violated her First Amendment and academic freedom rights and seeks punitive damages and reinstatement.

The complaint says university officials capitulated to political pressure after a state legislator posted a video of a classroom confrontation and that McCoul was dismissed soon after. An internal appeals panel had earlier ruled that A&M was “not justified” in dismissing her in November, but the A&M system denied her request for reinstatement in December.

The filing came after the university acknowledged administrators and faculty had modified hundreds of syllabuses to comply with new rules limiting how gender and race may be discussed.

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