A Christian teacher with the Jurupa Unified School District in Southern California was fired from her position for refusing to comply with the district’s policies on gender. Jessica Tapia says that one of the directives the district required her to follow to keep her job was to lie to parents about their students’ gender identities.
“I have officially been terminated from my position as a teacher because the school district could not accommodate my religious beliefs,” Tapia wrote in an Instagram video posted Feb. 1. “January 31, 2023,” which appears in the text of the video, is presumably the date when Tapia was fired. The former teacher said she had to choose between her job and “directives I did not agree with” and, “I stood by my faith & kept fear in the Lord.”
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Jurupa Unified School District Investigates Tapia
In a series of videos, some of which are interviews with media outlets, Tapia, a married mother of three, explains why she was fired from the Jurupa Unified School District. She was a high school physical education teacher who was finishing her sixth year of teaching when some of her students discovered her beliefs via social media and reported them to the district. The district then put Tapia on paid administrative leave and investigated her for over nine months.
District officials told Tapia she would be allowed to come back to work if she followed their directives. She had to refer to students by their preferred pronouns, and she had to “lie to their parents, withhold that information from their parents,” she said.
Tapia was shocked to hear they were asking her to lie, so she asked, “Are you asking me to lie to parents?” They said yes.
In one video, Tapia clarifies that there was no “locker room situation” that led to her firing—that is, there was no incident with a student that resulted in a confrontation with district officials. Rather, her firing was based on “hypotheticals.”
After hearing that Tapia would not use preferred pronouns or conceal students’ gender identities from parents, district officials asked if there were anything else her faith would prevent her from doing. Tapia said yes: She would not allow boys into girls’ locker rooms. The district made it clear to her that position was also problematic.
“I was just fired for vocalizing to my district that I would not let male genitals into the female locker room,” said Tapia. “How is that safe?” She exhorted other parents to take a stand. “I am seeking justice on this as the district has decided to release me from employment because they could not accommodate my religious beliefs.”
Tapia says that since she has shared her story, she has had many other teachers reaching out to share their experiences, offer their support and seek advice. She encourages teachers to stand firm in their convictions: “It’s time to act.”
