Tucker Carlson Interviews First (?) Teacher Fired for Refusing to Use Transgender Pronouns

On Monday, Tucker Carlson welcomed to his program Peter Vlaming, a former teacher at West Point High School in Virginia. The 47-year-old was recently fired in a unanimous decision by the West Point Public School Board.

The reason?

Vlaming, well…here’s Washington’s NBC 4 with a breakdown:

Over the summer, [a] ninth-grade student’s family informed the school system of the student’s gender transition to male.

The student wasn’t involved in Thursday’s (December 13th) hearing.

It’s not suggested that the 47-year-old West Point High School French teacher deliberately referred to the student using female pronouns in the student’s presence, but in conversations with others.

Witnesses described a “slip-up” when the student was about to run into a wall and Vlaming told others to stop “her.” When discussing the incident with administrators, Vlaming made it clear he would not use male pronouns, a stance that led to his suspension referral for disciplinary action.

“I can’t think of a worse way to treat a child than what was happening,” said West Point High Principal Jonathan Hochman, who testified that he told Vlaming to use male pronouns in accordance with the student’s wishes.

He can’t think of a worse way?

Vlaming told superiors that his Christian faith prevented him from using male pronouns for the student. Vlaming said he had the student in class the year before when the student identified as female.

On the show Monday night, Tucker made a poignant observation:

“It’s almost impossible to fire a public school teacher for incompetence — go ahead and try, and you’ll find out. But it turns out it’s very easy to get one fired for thought crimes.”

If you will, take a moment and digest that statement. Did you ever think we’d get here?

He asked Vlaming if he believed he’d been mean:

“The first question I think in most people’s minds is going to be, did you in some way to insult the student? Were you cruel to the student? Was there something untoward that you said to the student?”

The former molder of young skulls full of mush was quick to make clear that he cares for all his students:

“Not at all. I love and respect all of my students including the student in question. I did everything I could to accommodate the student’s new identity. I used the new name, I avoided feminine pronouns, but male pronouns were a bridge too far. But I did everything in my power to accommodate and show respect towards this student and this student’s choices.”

Carlson reaffirmed:

“So you never attacked the student or said, ‘I disagree with what you’re doing,’ or belittled the student or anything like that?”

“Not at all,” Vlaming answered. “And it’s not my place as a public school teacher to give my view on that subject. I’m a French teacher. I teach French.”

The man of faith was nonetheless fired for violating West Point’s non-discrimination guidelines.

Vlaming’s lawyer added:

“To our understanding, this is the first time in the country. We should make clear, Tucker, all we are asking for is that tolerance be a two-way street here. He respected the student. All he has asked for is that the respect be extended to him and to his rights.”

And then, profoundly:

“Pete was actually fired for what he would not say.”

Wow.

As for Vlaming being the first victim of such a policy, the attorney is, in a sense, wrong: John Kluge, a high school teacher at Brownsburg in Indiana, was purportedly bullied out of the classroom over transgender pronoun issues by a “threatening” administration. In July, technically, he quit of his own volition; however, he claims he was forced out. Read my coverage of that story here.

We are living in contradictory times, where institutions of “education” are now defying not just science in the micro, but the world at large: Our entire planet exists due — and in accordance — to sexual reproduction or something like it, from the perpetuation of animal species to pollination. Yet suddenly, the concept of genitals is evidently passé. Subsequently, we endure bizarre occurrences such as this and this. If you want a real mind-bender, consider this.

In federally-funded academia, there is failure at the most basic level. The “knowledge” with which children are being equipped by those in charge is in many cases no longer a provision of general and substantial facts; and to the degree that schools should instruct pupils on how to think, they are instead ordering them what to think.

And some parents aren’t helping matters, as in Vlaming’s case.

Furthermore, letting students run a school is akin, in my estimation, to granting patients the run of an asylum. Not long ago, it was actually the teachers who were in charge.

Nowadays, it’s the kids. Or the left-wing extremist Board. Or, no…it’s something else. It’s a force above it all, and not one for good. Not one for liberty. And not one fitting of America.

Watch the incredible interview below.

Relevant RedState links in this article: here, here, here, and here.

See 3 more pieces from me: their own worst enemy, The Conners vs. Last Man Standing, Hillary as the real president.

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