From Doe v. Little Miami School Dist., decided Thursday by Judge Matthew McFarland (S.D. Ohio):
Plaintiff is a teacher for Defendant Little Miami School District. For the past four years, Plaintiff has displayed a flag in his classroom that reads "Hate Has No Home Here" and bears several icons, including a rainbow Pride flag and transgender Pride flag. In January 2025, the Ohio Assembly passed H.B. 8, the Ohio Parent's Bill of Rights …. The statute provides parents the opportunity to review any instructional materials that include sexuality content which is defined as "any oral or written instruction, presentation, image, or description of sexual concepts or gender ideology, provided in a classroom setting." In October 2025, the Little Miami School Board passed a policy that adopted the statute.
In February 2026, Defendant David Wallace, president of the School Board, requested that Plaintiff remove his flag, but the principal stated that he would not order Plaintiff to remove it. Plaintiff then drafted an email defending the flag, and the Superintendent of Little Miami School District supported Plaintiff. On February 25, 2026, the School Board voted 4-1 in favor of the flag's removal, pursuant to H.B. 8 and the accompanying district policy. Plaintiff complied with this vote and removed the flag. …
Plaintiff now … seek[s] declaratory judgment that Defendants violated his First Amendment rights in ordering the flag's removal.
The court held plaintiff couldn't proceed pseudonymously:
