Christian Teacher Who Refused to Read LGBTQ+ Book to Students Faces Discipline

A Christian teacher in Tennessee claims his job was threatened and he was reassigned to a different position after his refusal to read a book with LGBTQ+ characters to his class of first graders. 

Eric Rivera, an instructor at KIPP Antioch College Prep Elementary in Nashville, says that he requested a religious accommodation to skip reading “Stella Brings the Family” in class, the story of a girl who is concerned about how to celebrate Mother’s Day because she has two dads.

“I refused to read a book that had two fathers on the cover and one daughter,” Rivera claimed. “I believe that that is not what God designed a marriage to be in a family to be.”

Rivera says his request was initially granted, and another instructor read the book to his students instead. But he was later called into the principal’s office, where he was given a warning, and told to teach future LGBTQ+ lessons – or else. 

Now, Rivera’s case is opening dialogue about just how far religious exemptions should go when it comes to the workplace. Should Christian teachers be exempt from teaching about the LGBTQ+ community, even if those lessons are part of their job?

Religious Reprisal?

After refusing to teach the LGBTQ+ language arts lesson, Rivera was moved to a technology role for a period. And though he’s now back in a role teaching, Rivera says he still worries about faith-based reprisal. 

“I still have the fear in me that I could lose my job for anything that I do based on my religious beliefs,” Rivera says. 

As a result, Rivera has enlisted conservative religious watchdog group First Liberty Institute to ensure that the school "accommodates" his religious practices without discrimination.

“Requiring a teacher to violate their religious beliefs in order to keep their job is blatant discrimination that violates the Civil Rights Act,” explains Cliff Martin, senior counsel at First Liberty Institute.

“Our client cares deeply about his students and simply has a religious objection to teaching certain lessons and asked for a simple religious accommodation… The school has sent the message that anyone who has a traditional view of marriage is unfit to teach first grade.”

Where is the Line Drawn?

Rivera’s case underscores a tension playing out in schools and workplaces across the country: how to balance sincerely held religious beliefs with institutional policies designed to create inclusive environments.

Last fall, also in Tennessee, controversy broke out after a football coach was removed from his position for praying on the field with his players. 

Federal law requires employers to provide reasonable religious accommodations, so long as doing so does not create an undue hardship. But what qualifies as “reasonable,” and who decides when a line has been crossed?

As disputes like this unfold, it raises broader questions that extend beyond one classroom in Tennessee.

How far should religious accommodations go in public or public-facing workplaces? At what point does accommodation become conflict? And how should schools balance the rights of educators with the expectations of families and students?