A former Oregon school counselor’s fight to display gender-themed books in his office has been decisively shut down by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled 2-1 that his actions were not protected by the First Amendment. Roderick E. Theis II, who worked for the InterMountain Education Service District (IMESD) for over 15 years, displayed books like “He is He,” “She is She,” and Matt Walsh’s “Johnny the Walrus” in his office while meeting with middle school students. Despite claiming no harmful intent and even considering removing the books for transgender students, the district deemed the display a “bias incident” and ordered their removal, ultimately leading to his termination after he provided the books to students upon request. The appeals court upheld the termination, with the majority opinion stating that as a government employee, Theis’s speech in the school setting was considered government speech and thus outside the scope of First Amendment protection. The dissenting judge, however, sharply criticized the ruling, questioning the consistency of such policies and drawing parallels to potential bans on political messages, suggesting a selective application of free speech principles within schools.
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