A former professor at the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky, who alleges he was harassed and fired for voicing his opinions about gender dysphoria, is headed back to district court for trial after achieving victory in an appeals court last week.
A three-judge panel for the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday in favor of Allan M. Josephson, who claimed he was demoted and essentially ousted by the University of Louisville in 2017 after sharing his opinions about how best to treat young people suffering from gender dysphoria during a panel at the Washington, D.C.-based conservative think tank Heritage Foundation.
"The defendants argue that they are entitled to Eleventh Amendment immunity and
qualified immunity. The district court disagreed, and so do we," the 6th Circuit decision written by Biden appointee Judge Andre Mathis states.Josephson, who had taught since 2003 in the psychology department at the University of Louisville, appeared with Michelle Cretella, a pediatrician with the American College of Pediatricians, and Paul Hruz, a professor of endocrinology at Washington University (Saint Louis) Medical School at the October 2017 Heritage panel.
During the panel, the three questioned the idea of gender identity and the efficacy of administering cross-sex hormones to children confused about their sex.
Following the discussion, Josephson alleged he was subsequently demoted from his position at the university and told that his contract would not be renewed.His attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom argued before the court in July to allow the professor's case to proceed to trial after a federal court had earlier ruled it could, as noted in a statement from the nonprofit.
"Public universities have no business punishing professors simply because they hold different views than a few colleagues or administrators," ADF Senior Counsel Travis Barham, who argued before the court, said in a statement provided to The Christian Post.
"The court's decision affirms that basic truth. Dr. Josephson had a long and distinguished career at the University of Louisville, leading and rebuilding its child psychiatry program."
"On his own time, he spoke about treatments for children struggling with their sex, and the university punished him for expressing his opinion. That's exactly what the First Amendment prohibits, and when public universities disregard our nation's highest law, they must be held accountable," Barham continued.
"We look forward to continuing to protect Dr. Josephson's clearly established right to free speech and reminding all public universities that they are marketplaces of ideas," he added.
Writing on his blog in 2019, when news of Josephson's situation first broke, theologian and Boyce College professor Denny Burk noted that what the professor faced is typical when resisting the goals of LGBT activists.
"Any doctor who dares speak up against this anti-science propaganda risks losing his job and livelihood. This is how LGBT activists win. They silence and intimidate all opposition to their ideology. That is what they have done to Dr. Josephson, and that is what they are doing everywhere they can," he said.
"It's hard to believe that this is where we are, but it's true."
The Christian Post reached out to the director of media relations at the University of Louisville, but the call was sent to voicemail.
