Psychology professor fired for opposing trans surgery for children wins free speech lawsuit against University of Louisville

A leading child psychiatrist has won a lawsuit after he was abruptly fired for comments about gender dysphoria. 

Dr. Allan Josephson, 72, was tapped to head the University of Louisvilles Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry more than 20 years ago.

In 2017, Josephson expressed caution about gender treatments for children - leading to his termination in 2019.

After being hit with a federal free speech lawsuit, the Kentucky school argued it was within its rights to fire Josephson for the criticism, aired at a Heritage Foundation panel.

Attorneys for the university claimed his personal comments related to his professional role at the medical school and thus overcame his First Amendment claim.

Now that hes been vindicated, his message for academia is tolerance is a two-way street.

In 2017, Dr. Allan Josephson, 72, expressed caution about gender treatments for children - leading to his termination from the Kentucky school in 2019

The decorated academic was tapped to head the University of Louisvilles Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in 2003. In 2019, he was fired. On September 10, he won a federal lawsuit that alleged he was wrongfully fired for publicly speaking about gender dysphoria

Last year, in a case I filed against [the] University of Louisville... over the violation of my constitutional rights and seeking reinstatement of my position with back pay, a federal district court ruled a jury should hear my claims, Josephson wrote in an op-ed for the Daily Signal Thursday.

And on Sept. 10, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit agreed.

The former chief of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology went on to quote the judgment that had exonerated him, following a lengthy court battle that lasted more than year.  

At its climax, jurists deemed that Josephson ha[d] shown that he engaged in protected speech when he spoke as part of the Heritage Foundation panel.

Defendants should have known that Josephsons speech was protected and that retaliating against Josephson for his speech would violate his First Amendment rights, it continued.

The 6th Circuit recognized what the University of Louisville does not; namely, that under our Constitution, all of us - professors or not - should be free to speak our professional and personal views without fear of punishment or retaliation.

That, however, was exactly what the psychiatrist was met with in the fall of 2017, after stating a need to start finding out the cause of kids transgender confusion and resolving any emotional problems before considering risky treatments.

The assertion came after Josephson was met with what he put Thursday as a straightforward and timely question - that being, How does one best treat children diagnosed with gender dysphoria?

The Kentucky school argued it was within its rights to fire Josephson for the criticism, aired at a Heritage Foundation panel in 2017 (seen here)

He responded: This is a socio-cultural psychological phenomenon, and the fact that were even talking about using medicine to solve it, uh, Im trying to remember - theres a kind of a joke. 

The guy looking for his wallet he lost his wallet - he lost his wallet - and somebody said, "Well, you lost it down the street. Why arent you looking down there? he continued.

He said, "well, heres where the light is."

The real issue is down there, Josephson then asserted, before pointing to the proverbial problem.

Im here for two reasons, he insisted. One: I have a commitment to the idea that  parents children need help. And theyre not getting help because of this phenomenon. 

Im not going to use the word abuse, he continued, but I will want you to think for a  few brief moments about the idea of neglect 

[Ill] give you some examples of why this is a neglectful phenomenon, neglecting  the developmental needs of children.

Im also here because I think truth matters, he declared. There are a number of things that are just not true in the sociological phenomenon.

The fall 2017 event was not associated with the school, and saw experts like Josephson speak on the phenomenon and the publics response

He went on to state how over the last several years, this thing [has] just mushroomed, before reciting a declaration from a licensed physician he found the matter.

The doctor, he said, wrote that the cost of not assigning sex is dire, and that it is counter to medical science to use chromosomes, hormones, internal reproductive organs, external genitalia, [and] secondary sex characteristics to override gender identity for the purposes of classifying someone as male or female.   

Gender identity should control when there is a need to classify an individual, the physician went on to write, leading Josephson to express disbelief. 

I was stunned when I read that, he said - claiming the assertion was counter to medical Science, chromosomes, anatomy, physiology, [and] genetics.

 This is medical science, he proclaimed. Thats how we categorize things. but that should take second place to this feeling this notion of gender identity?

Unbelievable, he concluded.

For this, the University of Louisville fired him, after first demoting him from the  division chief role he assumed back in 2003 and stripping him of his teaching duties.

In his piece for the Daily Signal, Josephson wrote how he had been ostracized and subjected to other forms of hostility, as faculty members demanded he apologize for his views on transgender issues, though without specifying to whom.

Attorneys for the school had argued that Josephsons personal comments related to his professional role at the universitys medical school and thus overcame his First Amendment claim. The argument did not sway the judge

Others remained silent, knowing which way the cultural winds were blowing, Josephson recalled.

I was stunned to realize I was actually being punished for doing what I was paid to do; namely, think and speak.

About a year later, the university refused to renew his contract - in effect, firing me, he wrote Thursday.

Professionally speaking, I had strong reservations about such transgender policies and said so, he continued.  

That was after 14 successful years rebuilding and leading the division, three years with perfect reviews, no disruptions in the division’s work, and no problems recruiting new faculty.

I wasn’t fired for poor management, teaching, or unprofessional conduct, he went on to write. The university ended my career because I elected not to surf the current wave of social activism,  because I expressed views -supported by scientific literature and clinical experience -that the university found politically incorrect,

In my case, activism trumped academic thought, he proclaimed.

Worse still, by what it did to me, our university communicated to students and faculty things that should be unthinkable in higher education, he continued. “Don’t ask questions or listen to anyone with a different point of view.”

I wasn’t fired for poor management, teaching, or unprofessional conduct, Josephson said after win. The university ended my career because I elected not to surf the current wave of social activism

Those are about the worst possible lessons we can impress upon those who will one day lead our communities or care for vulnerable patients, he concluded, days after winning the case 

Travis Barham, a senior counsel from the nonprofit who represented Josephson, the Alliance Defending Freedom, celebrated the victory as well.

Dr Josephson had a long and distinguished career at the University of Louisville, leading and rebuilding its child psychiatry program, the attorney wrote in a statement.

On his own time, he spoke about treatments for children struggling with their sex, and the university punished him for expressing his opinion. 

That’s exactly what the First Amendment prohibits, and when public universities disregard our nation’s highest law, they must be held accountable. 

We look forward to continuing to protect Dr Josephson’s clearly established right to free speech and reminding all public universities that they are marketplaces of ideas.

The university of Louisville - whose LGBT center complained to the school about Josephson  - has yet to issue a statement in response.