{"id":164984,"date":"2025-08-21T23:11:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T23:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/164984\/"},"modified":"2025-08-21T23:11:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T23:11:12","slug":"oregon-education-worker-wins-partial-victory-in-he-is-he-she-is-she-book-display-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/164984\/","title":{"rendered":"Oregon education worker wins partial victory in \u2018He is He,\u2019 \u2018She is She\u2019 book display case"},"content":{"rendered":"

A federal judge Wednesday issued a split decision<\/a> in the case of an Oregon education district employee who displayed books<\/a> in his office that promoted a binary gender view. <\/p>\n

U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew D. Hallman ordered Oregon\u2019s Intermountain Education Service District not to take any disciplinary action against clinical social worker Roderick E. Theis II for having the books out when no students were present.<\/p>\n

The anti-transgender books cannot influence \u201cimpressionable or captive students\u201d if the students aren\u2019t in Theis\u2019 office, U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew D. Hallman ruled.<\/p>\n

But Hallman declined to order the Pendleton-based district to remove a letter placed in Theis\u2019 personnel file that found he violated the district\u2019s anti-bias policy for displaying the books when students had been in his office. <\/p>\n

Hallman found that Theis \u201cspoke as a public employee by prominently displaying the books while students were present, and that expression is not protected by the First Amendment.\u201d<\/p>\n

But when no students were around, the display amounted to protected First Amendment speech of a private citizen, Hallman said.<\/p>\n

Theis has worked for the district since 2008 as an education specialist to support their academic, social and emotional development. He travels to different schools in the district, which covers Morrow, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa, Grant, Baker and Malheur counties.<\/p>\n

In October, he began displaying two books on the windowsill behind his desk in his La Grande Middle School office, \u201cHe is He\u201d and \u201cShe is She\u201d by Ryan and Bethany Bomberger. The covers showed a smiling boy and girl with the tagline, \u201ca book about your identity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Theis bought the books and said he displayed the covers to make his office \u201cmore kid friendly\u201d and send positive messages that \u201cit\u2019s great\u201d to be a girl or a boy, according to the judge\u2019s summary of the case.<\/p>\n

Theis said he wished no one harm and did not believe the books contained messages of \u201cill will or hostility.\u201d Four students were in the office at the time he had the books displayed, according to the opinion.<\/p>\n

On Oct. 21, the La Grande Middle School principal emailed Theis that he had received a complaint from another employee about the books and told Theis to put them out of sight to maintain \u201cneutrality at school.\u201d The employee was concerned the books would be offensive to transgender students, according to the judge\u2019s opinion.<\/p>\n

The middle school\u2019s principal later reviewed the books, said he didn\u2019t find them offensive or inappropriate but noted each contained several Bible verses and was concerned they could be \u201cpushing a certain point of view on a student,\u201d according to the ruling.<\/p>\n

On Oct. 22, the education service district alerted Theis that he would be investigated for his display of three books \u2013 \u201cHe is He,\u201d \u201cShe is She\u201d and \u201cJohnny the Walrus\u201d — as a potential bias violation and violation of the district\u2019s \u201cEvery Student Belongs Policy.\u201d <\/p>\n

Theis said he displayed \u201cJohnny the Walrus\u201d by Matt Walsh in his Elgin and Union school district offices during the 2022-23 and 2023-2024 school years. The book says it\u2019s about a boy named Johnny with a big imagination who likes to make-believe but is \u201cforced\u201d to make a decision between the boy he is and the things he \u201cpretends to be.\u201d <\/p>\n

On one occasion, a student asked about \u201cJohnny the Walrus\u201d and Theis said he shared parts of the story with the student, the judge wrote.<\/p>\n

During the district investigation, Assistant Superintendent Aimee VanNice noted a passage in the \u201cShe is She,\u201d book that said it was important to have \u201cseparate girls\u2019 & boys\u2019 sports teams to give us all a chance to shine. It\u2019s fun to compete when it\u2019s fair,\u201d according to the opinion. <\/p>\n

When VanNice asked Theis whether the book, \u201cShe is She,\u201d supports transgender people, Theis acknowledged it does not, the judge\u2019s case summary said. Theis responded that he \u201cmight put the books aside\u201d if he knew a transgender student would be coming into his office, according to the ruling.<\/p>\n

VanNice told him the three books were not appropriate anywhere in the education district and encouraged him to display \u201cneutral\u201d books.<\/p>\n

In November, VanNice sent Theis a letter, finding his books reflected a \u201cbias incident\u201d for their \u201chostile expression of animus toward another person relating to their actual or perceived gender identity.\u201d The letter informed him he could face discipline up to firing.<\/p>\n

Theis appealed to the superintendent, but the superintendent agreed that the books promoted a binary view of gender and created an \u201cunwelcoming environment.\u201d Theis then appealed to the school district\u2019s board, which denied the appeal.<\/p>\n

Theis filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Pendleton and argued that the district engaged in \u201ccontent and viewpoint discrimination.\u201d <\/p>\n

Hallman disagreed, finding that the district\u2019s policy addresses \u201cthe legitimate concern of ensuring an open and welcoming school environment for all students and employees.\u201d<\/p>\n

The judge declined to order the district to remove the bias letter from Theis\u2019s personnel file.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Letter of Directive determined that Plaintiff\u2019s display of the books \u2018for students visiting [his] office for purposes of evaluations and student services\u2019 amounted to a bias incident,\u201d the opinion said. <\/p>\n

\u201cBecause the letter of directive was based in part on Plaintiff\u2019s unprotected speech, removing the letter of directive from Plaintiff\u2019s file is not narrowly tailored to remedy the specific harm in this case.\u201d <\/p>\n

The education service is \u201centitled to select the views that it wishes to express, including by way of deciding which books are appropriate for display,\u201d Hallman wrote. <\/p>\n

But he added: \u201cConversely, that control may not necessarily infringe upon Plaintiff\u2019s liberties as a private citizen, specifically, his display when students are not present in his office.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hallman rejected VanNice\u2019s concerns that the book display could affect staff and visitors. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat alone is an insufficient basis for this Court to find an actual, material, and substantial disruption, or even a reasonable prediction of such a disruption,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

— Maxine Bernstein covers federal court and criminal justice. Reach her at 503-221-8212, mbernstein@oregonian.com, follow her on X @maxoregonian<\/a>, on Bluesky @maxbernstein.bsky.social<\/a> or on LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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