School Board Violated First Amendment by Blocking Journalist From LGBTQ Social Media Profile, Court Rules
Tyler O'Neil /
A school district’s LGBTQ affinity group violated the First Amendment by blocking a journalist on social media amid a heated debate about parents’ right to opt their children out of hearing teachers read LGBTQ-themed books, a federal judge ruled last week.
Atheist, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and other parents demanded the right to opt out of a 2022 LGBTQ book curriculum for pre-K through fifth grades in Montgomery County Public Schools, a suburban Maryland school district just outside the nation’s capital.
The Montgomery County school district refused to grant the right to opt out, and the parents sued. They have appealed the lawsuit all the way up to the Supreme Court.
Journalist and mother Bethany Mandel spoke out against the policy, often engaging with an LGBTQ social media account controlled by Montgomery County Public Schools staff named “@MCPS_StaffPRIDE.”
The school district’s website links to a “Staff Affinity Page,” which links to the social media account. This account “blocked” Mandel on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter), and she sued, claiming the action violates her First Amendment rights.
In her ruling last week, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, appointed by then-President Barack Obama, allowed Mandel’s First Amendment claim to move forward.
“In the First Amendment context, a defendant acts on behalf of the state if she ‘possessed actual authority to speak on the state’s behalf on a particular matter, and purported to exercise that authority when speaking in the relevant social-media posts,'” Xinis wrote, citing a Supreme Court case from March.
In that case, Lindke v. Freed, the nation’s highest court ruled that the city manager of Port Huron, Michigan, James Freed, did not violate the First Amendment rights of Kevin Lindke when Freed “blocked” Lindke on Facebook. Freed held a political position, but he operated the Facebook account as a personal account.
Mandel’s case likely represents the first time a government official has been held liable for violating First Amendment rights by blocking someone on social media under the Lindke v. Freed precedent, Ian Prior, senior legal adviser at America First Legal, the firm representing Mandel, told The Daily Signal.
“For far too long we have seen state actors silencing any debate on the government’s political and ideological orthodoxy,” Prior said. “This is especially egregious when those state actors are charged with educating the future leaders of America. It is that kind of suppression of dissent that the First Amendment was designed to prevent, and we are pleased that the court recognized that with its ruling.”
Mandel’s lawsuit brought other claims against Montgomery County Public Schools, most of which Xinis dismissed. However, the judge allowed the case to move forward based on the First Amendment claim against the MCPS staff who operated the social media account (whom Xinis referred to as the “pride members”).
Mandel plausibly argued that the pride members “exercised official authority to speak on behalf of MCPS about LGBTQIA+ issues generally and pertaining to the opt-out policy,” Xinis ruled.
The judge noted that “users can join the pride account only by emailing the pride members at their official MCPS email addresses,” and the Montgomery County Public Schools policy makes clear that such email addresses “are to be used only for work-related” activities.
MCPS further advises, she wrote, that “MCPS employees posting to social media in a professional capacity should not block users or delete comments on their own initiative.”
The pride members identified themselves with MCPS by using the school district’s acronym in the account’s name, and the account managers identified themselves via school district email addresses. The LGBTQ account describes itself as a “safe, affirming professional & social network for MCPS staff who identify as part of the LGBTQIA+ community” that aims to provide resources and reminders for MCPS schools and offices.
When it comes to considering a motion to dismiss a lawsuit, judges must consider the claims in the lawsuit in the most favorable way for the plaintiffs. When doing so, Xinis ruled that “the pride members have authority to speak on behalf of MCPS as to matters concerning the LGBTQIA+ staff and community.”
This ruling allows the case to move into the discovery phase, during which Mandel will be able to request documents from Montgomery County Public Schools’ staff to prove her case; MCPS staff will be able to demand documents from the journalist and mother that allow them to poke holes in her case.
The judge will make a “summary judgment” ruling either resolving the case or allowing it to move forward to trial.
Montgomery County Public Schools declined to comment on the pending litigation.