--- description: A Houston-area woman has filed suit alleging that she was fired for refusing to address a transgender child with his preferred name title: Teacher Says She Was Fired Over Transgender Student's Name image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Teacher Says She Was Fired For Refusing to Use Male Name for Transgender Student ## Video: Trans Teen Jazz Jennings on Bullying, Acceptance and Being a Role Model [Watch (HLS stream): Trans Teen Jazz Jennings on Bullying, Acceptance and Being a Role Model](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/BiSmUoGT.m3u8) (3:51)  _Published 2015-07-14. At 14-years-old, Jazz Jennings has co-authored a book I Am Jazz, was named one of_  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Nov 11, 2015 8:09 PM CUT  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Nov 11, 2015 8:09 PM CUT A Houston-area woman says she was fired from her teaching job for refusing to address a six-year-old transgender child born a female with his preferred male name. An attorney for Madeline Kirksey, who filed a discrimination suit against her former employer at the Children’s Lighthouse Learning Center in Katy, Texas, said the child care facility had violated his client’s religious rights, according to a [report](http://www.chron.com/neighborhood/katy/news/article/Attorneys-Katy-area-teacher-fired-for-refusing-6622339.php?cmpid=reddit-tablet "undefined") in the Houston _Chronicle_. The suit was filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. “At her age she was indecisive, some days she wanted to be a girl, some days she wanted to be a boy, it was according to what situation she got in that day,” said Kirksey, according to [local television outlet ABC 13](http://abc13.com/news/daycare-worker-claims-she-was-fired-in-dispute-over-transgender-child/1077575/ "undefined"). A Children’s Lighthouse Learning Center representative [told the Houston _Chronicle_](http://www.chron.com/neighborhood/katy/news/article/Attorneys-Katy-area-teacher-fired-for-refusing-6622339.php?cmpid=reddit-tablet "undefined") that Kirksey’s dismissal was not related to the transgender child but declined to comment further on a personnel issue. The lawsuit comes the week after Houston resident voted to strike down an [anti-discrimination ordinance](http://time.com/4099273/houston-lgbt-vote/ "undefined") that protected transgender people among other protected classes. \[[Houston _Chronicle_](http://www.chron.com/neighborhood/katy/news/article/Attorneys-Katy-area-teacher-fired-for-refusing-6622339.php?cmpid=reddit-tablet "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4108948/texas-teacher-transgender-girl/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4108948/texas-teacher-transgender-girl/"},"headline":"Teacher Says She Was Fired For Refusing to Use Male Name for Transgender Student","datePublished":"2015-11-11T20:09:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:31:47.057Z","description":"The lawsuit comes the week after Houston resident voted to strike down an anti-discrimination ordinance","url":"https://time.com/4108948/texas-teacher-transgender-girl/","keywords":["Texas","LGBT"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4108948/texas-teacher-transgender-girl/","name":"Teacher Says She Was Fired For Refusing to Use Male Name for Transgender Student"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Trans Teen Jazz Jennings on Bullying, Acceptance and Being a Role Model","description":"At 14-years-old, Jazz Jennings has co-authored a book I Am Jazz, was named one of","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/BiSmUoGT/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-07-14T17:30:38.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/BiSmUoGT.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4108948/texas-teacher-transgender-girl/","duration":"PT3M51S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4108948/texas-teacher-transgender-girl/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```