The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, in a 2–1 ruling released on 2 July, lifted a lower-court injunction that had blocked Florida from enforcing a 2023 statute requiring public-school teachers to use pronouns and titles aligned with their sex assigned at birth. The decision allows the state to discipline algebra teacher Katie Wood of Hillsborough County while her broader constitutional challenge proceeds. Writing for the majority, Judges Kevin Newsom and Andrew L. Brasher said Wood was speaking as a government employee, not a private citizen, when she identified herself to students as “Ms. Wood” and used the pronouns “she/her.” Because classroom speech falls within a teacher’s official duties, the panel concluded, it is treated as government speech and is not protected by the First Amendment. Judge Adalberto Jordan dissented, warning that the ruling expands the government-speech doctrine in ways that could leave “the First Amendment on the wrong side of the schoolhouse gate.” He argued that a teacher’s honorific and pronouns are personal markers of identity that deserve constitutional protection. Florida’s House Bill 1069 authorises suspension or revocation of teaching certificates and other penalties for violations. The appellate decision vacates an April 2024 injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Mark E. Walker and remands the case for further proceedings, setting the stage for continued litigation over the reach of state restrictions on gender-related expression in schools.