Transsexual fights to keep job; Sacramento, CA ANTELOPE, Calif., Sept. 28 - David Warfield served in the Navy, worked as a political consultant and was a white waterrafting instructor before becoming a high school journalism teacher. Throught it all, Warfield struggled with a secret: He felt like a woman. In April, after beginning hormone therapy, he approached Center High Principal Steve Wehr to announce that, by fall, he intended to return to school under a new name - Dana Lee Rivers. That decision, he says, has put his job in jeopardy. Over the weekend, Rivers learned he will be fired due to his ìevident unfitness for serviceî as a teacher, his lawyer, Margaret Geddes, said Monday. Rivers has filed a complaint with the state labor commissioner. School district spokesman Jan Adams said she could not comment on the case because it is a personnel matter. Rivers - he has officially changed his name - is taking hormones to prepare for a sex-change operation that would complete his transformation into a woman. He said he has a disorder that causes people extreme discomfort with their sexual identity. In May, knowing that he would return to school this fall as Dana Rivers, he sent a letter to co-workers in this community 25 miles northeast ofSacramento. ìI want to be a whole person,î he wrote. ìIt is not a lifestyle choice. It is not a fetish. I am not hoping to make any kind of social or politica lstatement. It is the single most significant aspect of who I am.î According to the Pacific Justice Institute, a conservative group pushing for the teacherís dismissal, Rivers then spoke with students about sexual abuse he experienced as a child, gender identity issues and his decision to become a woman. Geddes said that account was inaccurate but declined further comment. The instituteís founder, Brad Dacus, said his group became involved after several parents complained there was no notice given about the discussion. Dacus said the teacherís talk with students - not his sex change - was the issue behind the districtís response. ìThe actions of this teacher were not only inappropriate, but outrageous,î he said. Dacus said Rivers should have quietly transferred to another school as a woman. ìHe could have kept it to himself,î he said. ìThat would have been the easiest for the students with less stress and trauma.î Rivers did not respond to messages seeking comment left on his home answering machine Monday by The Associated Press. According to his complaint against the board, Rivers said he was notified three days before the start of the school year that he had been placed onadministrative leave and would not be allowed on campus. Students held a rally Friday to show their support, and the school newspaper dedicated most of this school yearís first edition to the issue. "I think Ms. Rivers should do whatever she wants,î said junior Mary Muehe, one of Riversí former students. ìIf anything, sheíll only be a better teacher now because she wonít have to hide this.î
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