A federal district court judge on April 16 denied the petition of an Ohio teacher in the Little Miami School District to remain anonymous while suing the district for forcing him to remove an anti-hate poster in his classroom.
The teacher, referred to as John Doe, hung a “Hate Has No Home Here” poster in his history classroom alongside other displays. He was approached by the school’s principal in September 2025 and told that school board president David Wallace came to his classroom and took photos of the poster, according to his original complaint.
In February 2026, the principal told Doe that Wallace had requested, via the superintendent, that the poster be removed – ostensibly on the grounds that the LGBTQ+ flags constituted “sexuality content.” The principal refused to order the poster be removed, and the superintendent concurred. The board, however, made a motion to forcibly remove the poster during their February meeting.
Doe filed the lawsuit seeking an injunction against the poster’s removal and a declaration that banning the poster is a violation of his First and 14th Amendment rights to free speech and equal protection. He requested to stay anonymous due to fears of harm and retaliation.
U.S. District Judge Matthew McFarland declined to grant anonymity because Doe’s identity has already been disclosed “whether or not he consented to such disclosure.”
“Furthermore, beyond instances of Plaintiff’s name, job title and photograph being published, Plaintiff has not pointed to any credible threat of harassment or danger that he faced from this disclosure or could face if his name is used in these proceedings,” McFarland said in his order. “Risk of embarrassment alone is not enough to warrant use of a pseudonym.”
Doe’s legal representation will protect his safety in light of the order, said Joshua Engel, Doe’s lawyer.
“We understand that the judge has to balance the public interest in knowing the identity of litigants with potential harms,” Engel said. “We will be watching closely to make sure that our client is not subjected to doxxing or harassment and will take appropriate steps to protect his safety.”
The order comes after Doe’s identity was published on Facebook in late March by Darbi Boddy, a former Lakota School Board member – a week before Doe filed. Darby was removed from office after she was unable to attend meetings due to a fellow board member’s restraining order against her.
Boddy disparaged the history teacher for using the poster to say, according to Doe’s explanation to Little Miami High School’s principal, “they must treat their classmates with mutual respect, regardless of opinions or beliefs.”
“He openly admits he doesn’t want a ‘neutral’ image because it might ‘erase’ LGBTQ+ representation,” Boddy said on Facebook. “Parents – it’s time to speak up. What do you think should happen to teachers like this?”
The comment section of Boddy’s Facebook post includes insulting, slur-laden comments towards Doe’s supporters such as, “You are trying to groom our children with your perv liberal lifestyles,” “This f—k face should be fired immediately … You don’t have a teacher, you have a r——d activist that probably should have his computer hard drive searched by feds” and “Kids being bullied over defending the pride flag? Good. This teacher getting bullied over it? Even better.”
When the Buckeye Flame requested public records from Little Miami in January, the district did not redact the teacher’s name before Doe filed his lawsuit in April. Dan Smith, a Little Miami School Board member who voted in favor of removing the anti-hate poster, resigned in March after the Buckeye Flame reported on antisemitic comments he made on social media.
Sarah Moore, anti-LGBTQ extremism analyst for GLAAD, noted that with a rise violence against members of the LGBTQ+ community in recent years, Doe’s request for anonymity is reasonable.
“There are documented safety concerns that must be considered when deciding what to disclose in public records, especially for those who speak up for targeted and vulnerable people,” Moore told the Flame. “It is difficult to see the judge’s demand as in the public interest when there is a clear risk to the plaintiff and may serve to chill others from speaking up against wrongdoing.”
According to GLAAD’s Anti-LGBTQ Extremism Reporting Tracker (ALERT), reports of anti-LGBTQ+ violence in the United States increased by 112% between June 2023 and June 2024, with over 1,000 incidents total.
Ohio ranked fifth out of 50 states for reported incidents, said Moore, adding that the number of incidents is “only a small portion of what is actually documented” due to “[fears] of retaliation.” 🔥
IGNITE ACTION
- Local community members have started a crowd-source funding campaign to support the teacher’s legal expenses. To learn more about the legal fund, click here.
- If you are a young LGBTQ+ person in crisis, please contact the Trevor Project: 866-4-U-Trevor.
- If you are an transgender adult in need of immediate help, contact the National Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860
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