Texas art teacher Stacy Bailey, who was suspended last September after she showed students a photo of her "future wife," filed a federal lawsuit against her school district on Tuesday for discrimination.

Bailey is accusing the Mansfield Independent School District (MISD) and two of its employees of discriminating against her because of her sexual orientation after the district refused to reinstate her job at her elementary school.

The lawsuit was filed the Northern District of Texas federal court in Dallas.

Two weeks ago, MISD voted to renew Bailey's contract, after suspending her in September. A parent had complained to the school district that the award-winning teacher promoted a "homosexual agenda" by including a photo of her then-fiancee in a classroom presentation introducing herself to students.



But in a letter dated May 1, Bailey received notice from MISD that she was being reassigned to a local high school, rather than Charlotte Anderson Elementary in Arlington, a school she has taught at since 2008.

Bailey has twice won Teacher of the Year awards at Charlotte Anderson, most recently in 2017.

"Mansfield ISD reassigned Bailey to teach in a secondary school, sending the message that it believed LGBT teachers were not acceptable to teach elementary students," a spokesperson for Bailey said in a press release.

However, the district pushed back on that allegation, stating that during Bailey's decade-long tenure, "there has never been an issue with her open sexual preference until this year."

"That's when her actions in the classroom changed, which prompted her students to voice concerns to their parents," the district said in a statement Tuesday night, refuting complains that it discriminated against the teacher.

The issue at the elementary school, the district went on, is whether she broke the rules by not teaching "controversial subjects" in an "impartial and objective manner."

"Teachers shall not use the classroom to transmit personal belief regarding political or sectarian issues," it said.



In March, MISD said in a press release Bailey was suspended after they "received complaints from parents about Ms. Bailey discussing her sexual orientation with elementary-aged students."