A U.S. district court judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by an Ohio elementary school teacher who was suspended for having LGBTQ+ books in her classroom.

Last November, Karen Cahall, a third-grade math and science teacher who has taught in the New Richmond Exempted Village School District for three decades, was suspended without pay for three days after a parent filed a complaint with the school’s principal and the district’s board about four “inappropriate” books featuring LGBTQ+ characters among the approximately 100 books in her classroom.

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As The Cincinnati Enquirer reported at the time, none of the books – Ana on the Edge by A.J. Sass, The Fabulous Zed Watson by Basil Sylvester, Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea by Ashley Herring, and Too Bright to See by Kyle Lukoff – featured sexual content. However, the district determined that the four books violated its policy on “the introduction and proper educational use of controversial issues,” which defines controversial issues as topics “on which opposing points of view have been promulgated by responsible opinion or likely to arouse both support and opposition in the community.”

In a disciplinary letter to Cahall, Superintendent Tracey Miller said that Cahall knew the books were controversial and “not acceptable” because her earlier request to have them included in the school library was denied. Miller went on to accuse Cahall of intentionally placing the books in her own classroom library without following the established approval process.

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The following month, Cahall sued the district, arguing that its “controversial issues” policy is unconstitutionally vague and that in applying it to her, the district had violated her Fourteenth Amendment rights to due process and equal protection.

Cahall argued that Miller had “targeted” her for unlawful discriminatory treatment “because of [Cahall’s] sincerely held moral and religious beliefs” that all children, including ones who are LGBTQ+ or have LGBTQ+ parents, deserve to be respected, accepted, and loved for who they are.

But on September 29, U.S. District Judge Douglas Cole, appointed by the current president, dismissed Cahall’s complaint, agreeing with Miller’s assertion that Cahall knew the books were “controversial,” The Buckeye Flame reports.

“There is no question that, on the facts here, Cahall knew that the LGBTQ+-themed books that she placed in the classroom related to a ‘controversial issue,’” Cole wrote in his decision.

“Indeed, in her Complaint, she specifically notes that she added the books to her collection because of a ‘controversy’ surrounding LGBTQ+ topics, and she did so precisely because she thought that controversy damaging to the emotional health of LGBTQ+ students in her third-grade class.”

Cole also disagreed with Cahall’s Equal Protection claim, writing that if she had alleged “that the District knowingly allows teachers to make Bibles available to their students… while preventing her from making other religiously motivated content available to her students, things may be different, but that is not what her Complaint alleges.”

As the Flame notes, Cole dismissed Cahall’s Equal Protection and Free Exercise claims without prejudice, so she can refile a complaint on those grounds. However, he dismissed her claim that the district’s “controversial issues” policy is unconstitutionally vague with prejudice, meaning she would have to appeal his ruling if she wants to keep fighting.

According to the outlet, Cahall, who has funded her legal fight through a GoFundMe campaign, is exploring next steps and believes there is room for an appeal, which she would have to file before the end of October.

While initial reports last year indicated Cahall intended to retire in January 2025, she continues to teach in the New Richmond Exempted Village School District while suing her employer.

“The good thing is when I’m in my classroom and I’m teaching, that really is my happy place,” she told the Flame. “That’s where I’m meant to be.”

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