A Florida teacher is on administrative leave for an unusual reason. The unidentified female teacher works for the Alachua County Public Schools in Gainesville at Talbot Elementary School. She reportedly told staff and students at the school to address her with the gender-neutral title “Mx.” instead of “Mrs.” or “Ms.” Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said it’s against state law and may violate district policy, and that it must stop immediately.
Mainstreet Daily News reported that Alachua County Public Schools representative Jackie Johnson confirmed the teacher’s leave but would not comment further on the investigation. In a letter posted on X, Uthmeier stated his office received a complaint about the teacher’s demands. In his letter, the attorney general wrote that Mx. “is a made-up term describing an individual who does not wish to identify her gender.”
Uthmeier further argued, “The legislature so declared it the policy of Florida’s public school system that ‘sex is an immutable biological trait and that it is false to ascribe to a person a pronoun that does not correspond to such person’s sex,’” citing Florida statute 100.071.
A female teacher at Talbot Elementary in Gainesville is forcing students and faculty to address her with the prefix "Mx." instead of “Ms.” or “Mrs."
— Attorney General James Uthmeier (@AGJamesUthmeier) October 22, 2025
This violates Florida law and Alachua County School District policy and must stop immediately. pic.twitter.com/RzJBAPu8ax
The attorney general wants the teacher to comply or face disciplinary action and potential termination. Florida Commissioner of Education Anastasios Kamoutsas shared a message on X regarding the situation.
“I’ve confirmed with Superintendent Patton that the teacher has been placed on leave pending an investigation. The allegations are deeply troubling and ones I will not take lightly,” he wrote.
The story caused quite a stir on social media, with many calling for the teacher’s removal from the school.
“IMO, this teacher should be fired, while forcing the removal of the ‘Mx’ appellation is the proper response…it is akin to ‘putting lipstick on a pig,’” one harsh critic commented on the attorney general’s post on X. “As the AG says, she is a mentally confused adult…so, why should she be allowed to teach children? I would bet that her teaching methods reflect her mental instability.”
“You know what is the best way to make it stop? FIRE HER,” another person agreed.
But others didn’t think using the title Mx. was such a big deal.
“Give me a break. Parents of students offended by this should just pull their kids out of public school and put them in a private Christian school,” one comment on X suggested. “Isn’t this exactly why we have the Family Empowerment Scholarship? Leave this poor teacher alone and let them do their job.”
“Let’s be honest: Mx. is silly, but the state outlawing it is silly too. Just ignore the request and move on,” someone else pointed out. “’Forcing?’ What—At gunpoint?”
On one hand, it shouldn’t matter what this teacher wants to call themselves. But on the other hand, the law is the law and needs to be followed. There are certainly bigger issues to worry about in our world today, but it will be interesting to see how this all works out.
