Teacher Wins Lawsuit After Being Suspended for Sexual Orientation

A Texas teacher, who was suspended after showing a personal photo to her class, has won $100,000 as part of a discrimination lawsuit. Stacy Bailey is a former Teacher of the Year at Charlotte Anderson Elementary in Arlington. In 2017, she was placed on an eight-month administrative leave after showing students a picture of her soon-to-be-wife, Julie Vazquez. According to BuzzFeed News, the move came after a parent had complained that Bailey, who is gay, was promoting a “homosexual agenda". The school then wrote in a press release that the teacher’s comments about “sexual orientation” were not “age-appropriate” for her students. A federal court has now ruled that the school’s move was unconstitutional. and the teacher will receive $100,000 from the Mansfield Independent School District. Bailey, who has since moved to a new school, and Vazquez will donate $10,000 to a charity that helps LGBTQ+ students. The district also agreed to add trainings related to LGBTQ+ issues and to consider creating sexual orientation-based protections for its teachers. The 33-year-old Bailey tells BuzzFeed that she hopes her lawsuit will empower others