Rod Theis has worked as an education specialist at the InterMountain Education Service District outside of Portland since 2008. In his office, Theis had displayed several children’s books, including two titled “He is He” and “She is She” as well as “Johnny the Walrus.”
A school employee saw some of the books and complained that they were “transphobic,” even filing a “bias incident” complaint with the district.
The district said the books were a “hostile expression of animus toward another person relating to their actual or perceived gender identity” and warned him that “further conduct of this nature” may result in discipline, including termination.
Theis filed a lawsuit against the district on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the district was allegedly allowing other employees to decorate in support of transgender ideology as well as “Black Lives Matter” and support for the teachers’ union.
Alliance Defending Freedom is handling the case for Theis. Tyson Langhofer of the organization told The Daily Wire: “They said you can’t express this message, and many other employees and the school district themselves are able to express messages about gender and sex and LGBT-themed messages, but they specifically disagreed with this message.”