Florida Teacher Put On Leave After Requesting Gender-Neutral Title ‘Mx’

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A teacher in Gainesville, Florida, has been placed on administrative leave after asking to be addressed with the gender-neutral title “Mx,” a decision that state officials say violates Florida law.

The educator, whose name has not been released, teaches at Talbot Elementary School in Alachua County. According to district officials, the teacher requested that students and colleagues refer to them as “Mx” instead of gendered titles such as “Ms.” or “Mrs.” Alachua County Public Schools spokesperson Jackie Johnson confirmed that the teacher has been placed on leave pending an investigation but declined to provide further details.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier accused the teacher of breaking House Bill 1069, the 2023 law signed by Governor Ron DeSantis that defines “sex as an immutable biological trait” and bars K–12 employees from using preferred personal titles or pronouns that differ from their sex assigned at birth.

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Uthmeier posted on X, “A female teacher at Talbot Elementary in Gainesville is forcing students and faculty to address her with the prefix ‘Mx.’ Instead of ‘Ms.’ Or ‘Mrs’. This violates Florida law and Alachua County School District policy and must stop immediately.”

In a letter sent to Alachua County Superintendent Kamela Patton and the school board on October 22, Uthmeier called the teacher’s actions “unacceptable” and said the district must enforce state law. “The legislature so declared it the policy of Florida’s public school system that ‘sex is an immutable biological trait and that it is false to ascribe to a person a pronoun that does not correspond to such person’s sex,’” he wrote. He went on to describe the use of Mx as ideological “non-sense” that “interferes with parents’ religious upbringing of their children.”

Florida Commissioner of Education Anastasios Kamoutsas backed the attorney general’s stance, writing on X, “I’ve confirmed with Superintendent Patton that the teacher has been placed on leave pending an investigation. The allegations are deeply troubling and ones I will not take lightly.”

The title “Mx” (pronounced “mix”) has been in use since the 1970s as a gender-neutral alternative to “Mr.,” “Ms.,” or “Mrs.” It was added to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary in 2017 and is used by many people who are trans, non-binary, gender non-conforming, or who simply prefer a neutral honorific.

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Many see the move as part of a broader campaign to restrict LGBTQ+ visibility and expression in Florida schools. “It is meant to stigmatize LGBTQ+ youth and family members and make teachers fearful of providing a welcoming and inclusive classroom,” said Kara Gross, legislative director and senior policy counsel for the ACLU of Florida, in a press release. “It is a heavy-handed example of government overreach and is out of touch with the values of Floridians and the rest of the country.”

Parts of the legislation have already faced pushback in federal court. In August, U.S. District Court Judge Carlos Mendoza struck down several provisions related to book removals and content restrictions, calling them “over-broad and unconstitutional.” However, the sections governing pronoun and title use remain in effect.

The district has not said when its investigation will conclude or whether the teacher will return to the classroom.