A former public school counselor in Wisconsin is suing Milwaukee Public Schools for terminating her employment after she spoke out against transgender ideology curriculum at a rally earlier this year.
Marissa Darlingh was fired in September after a speech she made over gender identity ideology curriculum at a feminist rally in Madison. Her lawsuit alleges that her former school district violated her free speech rights over her remarks.
"I oppose gender ideology ever entering the walls of my school building," Darlingh said at the rally, according to a video of her remarks.
"On my dead f***ing body will my students be exposed to the harms of gender identity ideology. Not a single one of my students under my f***ing watch will ever, ever transition socially and sure as hell not medically,” she added.
“I exist in this world to serve children. I exist to protect children,” she said. “F*** transgenderism. F*** it.”
“F*** transgenderism. F*** these people behind us who want children to have unfettered access to hormones, sex hormones and surgery,” she said as pro-transgenderism activists shouted behind her.
According to the New York Post, a group protesting the rally campaigned to have Darlingh fired from her job, which instigated an investigation from the school district. Her employer and two HR employees reportedly brought misconduct proceedings against her in her suspension, as well as a “no-trespass order.”
In June, one teacher reportedly showed her fifth grade class an article about Darlingh’s remarks and said “they have the right not to see [Darlingh] for counseling services.” Another teacher cornered Darlingh twice in one day at the school over her remarks.
However, several students interviewed in the investigation said that Darlingh was “one of their favorites.”
After Darlingh was suspended throughout the summer, she was terminated from her employment one month into the 2022-2023 school year.
Darlingh reportedly acknowledged in the lawsuit that her profanity in her speech “went too far.” In the lawsuit, she seeks reinstatement into her job at the elementary school, back-pay, among other things.
TODAY on behalf of Marissa Darlingh, a former Milwaukee Public School elementary counselor, we filed a federal lawsuit against certain MPS employees for firing Ms. Darlingh for her First Amendment protected speech: https://t.co/JUKXkFYT84
— WILL (@WILawLiberty) November 16, 2022
“The District has blatantly violated Ms. Darlingh’s First Amendment rights,” Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty Deputy Counsel, Luke Berg, said in a statement to the Post. “Firing her for expressing her views on such an important subject is not only inexcusable, but unconstitutional.”
“As a private citizen, I have the right to express my views concerning gender ideology on my own time, and identifying myself as a school counselor doesn’t negate that right," Darlingh said in a statement. "My speech had little to no impact on my students, their educational experience or our therapeutic relationship. The basis of my unscripted speech stemmed from my desire to protect children.”