Stacy Bailey, suspended from her job as an elementary school teacher in 2017 for showing students a photo of herself and her then "future wife," has been awarded a $100,000 settlement and plans to donate $10,000 of it to a charity helping LGBTQ students, Buzzfeed reports.
"If you are a school district that thinks you can bully a gay teacher out of their job, I hope you remember my name and I hope you think twice," Bailey said during a Tuesday press conference announcing the decision.
Bailey was a two-time teacher of the year award winner at Charlotte Anderson Elementary in Arlington, Texas, before the incident in September 2017. She showed a photo of herself and then-fiancée, Julie Vazquez dressed as characters from the movie "Finding Nemo" to her students.
The 33-year-old teacher was suspended after the Mansfield Independent School District "received complaints from parents about Ms. Bailey discussing her sexual orientation with elementary-aged students," she was suspended, then reassigned to a high school.
The agreement also expunges the suspension from her record.
"When a straight teacher happily announces that she and her husband are expecting a baby to her elementary class, is she saying something inappropriate to very young and impressionable students?" Bailey asked at the press conference. "Is she announcing her sexual orientation? Is she presenting her life in a way that promotes her political beliefs? Of course not . . . she's simply sharing facts about her life."
A federal judge ruled in October that Bailey's lawsuit claiming claiming discrimination and a breach of her constitutional rights can proceed.
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