TAMPA, Fla. — A Hillsborough County teacher who sued the Florida Department of Education over a rule that requires transgender teachers to use pronouns that match the sex they were assigned at birth, recently won a reprieve in court.

A judge in the case ruled earlier this month that the state of Florida violated her First Amendment rights by banning her from using her preferred pronouns while teaching. 

What You Need To Know

  • A group of transgender teachers filed a federal lawsuit against the Florida Department of Education over a law that required them to use pronouns that align with the sex they were assigned at birth

  • A judge recently granted Hillsborough County teacher, Katie Wood, a preliminary injunction saying law violates her First Amendment rights

  • Currently, the injunction only applies to Wood and is not a larger ban on schools in the state enforcing the law

“I’ve always wanted to be a teacher since I was 8 years old," said Wood, who teaches algebra at Lennard High School. "My mom, my grandma, it’s all I used to say to everyone, so my life’s always been on this path to be a teacher."

She said that until recently, her students have always known her as Ms. Wood.

“That’s what I was hired as in Hillsborough County as," she said. "It’s Katie Wood on my driver’s license — all my documents are changed. That’s what my kids called me — they’d say, 'Hi Ms. Wood,' and that was the end of it.”

But this school year, she was forced to become Teacher Wood.

“Earlier this year they passed a law that says that transgender teachers are no longer able to go by the quote-unquote wrong title, or pronouns," she said. "We can’t identify ourselves as that."

Wood said that introducing herself at school as Teacher Wood never felt right. But if she didn’t, she risked losing her job and teaching license. 

“Teaching’s very precious to me, and so is my identity, so the state of Florida has pitted those two things against each other,” Wood said.

Wood said that's why she joined a federal lawsuit against the Florida Department of Education to challenge the law.

"Why does someone else feel the need to tell me who I am?" she said. "What harm am I doing just by saying, 'Hi, I’m Miss Wood'? So that’s the reason we’re here, because the state of Florida has decided trans teachers can’t say who they feel they are.”

In his ruling to grant the request for a preliminary injunction, U.S. District Court Judge Mark E. Walker wrote that forcing Wood to "inhabit an identity that is not her own," the state violated her constitutional rights.

"In sharing her preferred title and pronouns, Ms. Wood celebrates herself and sings herself — not in a disruptive or coercive way, but in a way that subtly vindicates her identity, her dignity, and her humanity," Walker said in his ruling.

Wood said she was relieved to be able to put the issue aside, even if only temporarily.

“It’s a moment of brevity in what has been an otherwise very tumultuous year,” she said.

For now, she can write “Ms. Wood” on her white board again. It's an act she never thought twice about before, but is now something she cherishes.

“I’m hoping that this ruling on the preliminary injunction will be a small part in that good that we’re all trying to do," Wood said. "We’re all trying to be good, and spread good into the world."

According to the ruling, the injunction currently only applies to Wood, and only for the duration of the case. While it’s not a ruling on the law in general, Wood said she hopes that will change in the future.