A Florida school teacher has been placed on administrative leave after allegedly violating state law by asking students and faculty to refer to her using the gender-neutral honorific “Mx.” instead of “Ms.” or “Mrs.”
The teacher, whose identity has not been released, works at Talbot Elementary School in Gainesville.
Jackie Johnson, spokesperson for Alachua County Public Schools, confirmed the teacher was placed on leave pending an investigation after Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier received a complaint through his newly created Office of Parental Rights.
The complaint alleged that “a female teacher was forcing students and faculty to address her with the prefix ‘Mx.’”
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What Is “Mx.”?
“Mx.” is a title dating back to the 1970s and officially added to dictionaries in 2017.
Pronounced “mix” or “mux,” it serves as a nonbinary alternative to “Mr.” or “Ms.” and is increasingly used in the UK and professional environments for those who prefer not to specify a gender.
State Official's Letter
In a letter to Alachua County school officials, Uthmeier labeled the teacher’s actions as “unacceptable” and stated that they conflict with House Bill 1069, a law signed by Governor Ron DeSantis in July 2023.
The legislation prohibits K-12 school employees from using personal pronouns or titles that don’t align with their sex assigned at birth.
“The legislature so declared it the policy of Florida’s public school system that ‘sex is an immutable biological trait and that it is false to ascribe to a person a pronoun that does not correspond to such person’s sex,’” he wrote.
He argued the use of “Mx.” undermines this policy and described it as a “made-up” and “ideological” label. He also claimed it could interfere with parents’ religious values and called it “unfit for a Florida educational setting.”
District Ordered to Drop “Mx.” Title
Uthmeier directed the school district to ensure the honorific be dropped in the school setting immediately and advised officials to “enforce the law and consider disciplinary action,” warning of possible legal consequences for noncompliance.
Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas backed Uthmeier’s stance, posting on X: “The allegations are deeply troubling and ones that I will not take lightly.”
This incident reflects larger cultural and legal debates in Florida over gender identity and how it’s addressed in educational settings.
The law behind the teacher’s suspension also mandates that sex education in the state's public schools teach that biological sex is “binary” and “unchangeable".
At the time of writing, no further statements have been released by the Florida Department of Education, the attorney general’s office, or Alachua County Public Schools.