Trans teacher buys Scottish land in bid to be called Lord, not Miss

Times

3 hours ago

An American transgender teacher embroiled in a gender naming row bought a piece of land in Scotland in an attempt to be called Lord rather than Miss.
Toby Tobin, a fifth-grade maths and science teacher in Florida​ who was born female, ​claims to have been forced to resign from ​t​eaching after school authorities insisted ​upon the use​ of a female title and pronouns.
When ​T​obin originally took a job with the school in 2021, ​the teacher was open about identifying as male and ​h​ad previously been referred to as Mr Tobin.
However, in 2023 new laws implemented in Florida stated that when it comes to public schools a person's 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'.
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School employees were prohibited from asking students to call them by pronouns not based on their sex at birth and students were not required to use them.
In an attempt to get around the ban on calling himself Mr Tobin, the teacher bought a small plot of Scottish land to secure the title of Lord Toby Tobin. ​Tobin purchased a 4 sq ft 'souvenir plot' on an estate in Fife through a website offering buyers the chance to become a 'Lord, Lady or Laird'.
​After the attempt to use the title was rejected​, the 30-year-old launched a lawsuit against the Pinellas County School District claiming gender discrimination.
'After a conversation with the district they said I would have to use only female-specific pronouns and a title​,' Tobin said. 'In response to this I thought 'OK, I can't be Mr Tobin, why don't I go purchase some land in Scotland and I could become a Lord?'. So I did make some attempts to combat this in the most gentle way that I could at the time.'
Tobin also became an ordained minister and a Count of the Principality of Sealand, an offshore platform in the North Sea, in an attempt to avoid using a female title.
'After proposing that I be Lord Tobin my administration said 'no', but I did not give up​,' the teacher said. 'I became a minister through the Universal Life Church so I now am Minister Toby Tobin as well as Lord Toby Tobin. I then found the Principality of Sealand and I became a Count with them which I thought would be hysterical because I taught math.
'Count Tobin was also not deemed appropriate for the classroom so I started to realise that if it wasn't Mrs it wasn't going to be it so I was essentially constructively discharged.'
Tobin's lawsuit, filed in the US District Court in Florida, states: 'Plaintiff attempted to work with the school district by voluntarily obtaining honorifics such as 'lord' by purchasing a tract of land in Scotland.
'Defendant did not allow plaintiff to use any titles or pronouns other [than] ones that corresponded to the incorrect gender. Defendants' directives undermined plaintiff's identity, dignity, and ability to perform his job in a manner consistent with his personal and professional integrity.'
Lawyers representing school authorities have filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing Tobin's pronoun preference is not protected speech and the state's interest in upholding the law outweighs his request.
A number of companies sell souvenir plots in remote parts of Scotland giving owners the chance to become a lord or lady.
However, purchasers are warned that you 'cannot buy a noble title' and use of it is for enjoyment purposes only.
A spokesman for the Pinellas County School District said it does not comment on continuing legal cases.