Retired gay teacher sentenced to five years after threatening judge over Don’t Say Gay case

A retired gay teacher has been jailed after threatening a judge over their ruling in a Don’t Say Gay legal challenge in Florida.

Following his guilty plea in May, Stephen Thorn, 66, of Pensacola, was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for threatening to harm a federal judge and her family, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.

According to court documents, in October 2022 Thorn was unhappy with a ruling issued by the judge in regard to a challenge of the state’s Don’t Say Gay law, and left her “vulgar, obscenity-laden voicemail messages”.

In a letter filed in court, Thorn apologised for “rashly and angrily” over-reacting after reading a news story about the judge’s ruling.

Florida’s controversial Don’t Say Gay law – formally known as the Parental Rights in Education Act – “prohibits classroom instruction to students in pre-kindergarten through grade three on sexual orientation or gender identity”, while for grades four to 12 such discussions are prohibited except when “such instruction is either expressly required by state academic standards” or part of an optional sex-education class. 

The legislation has been criticised by LGBTQ+ and civil rights groups for its effect on freedom of speech. In addition, the law is extremely vague, meaning many teachers could be cautious about even mentioning they have a same-sex partner or having a rainbow sticker in the classroom.

Although the judge in the case was not named, it is widely believed to be Wendy Berger, who dismissed a lawsuit by LGBTQ+ students, their families and civil rights groups in Orlando, who sought to halt the legislation from being enforced in the Sunshine State.

In the voicemails, Thorn said that dismissing the challenge meant the law was “basically giving a green light for [LGBTQ+ students] to be thought of as second-class citizens and bullied”. The judge was “very easy to track”, he added.

He also said: “Let’s see how you like it if somebody endangered your children or grandchildren in school.”

US district attorney Roger B Handberg said: “Threatening harm against public officials, or their families, is an intolerable offence. My office takes such threats seriously and is committed to investigating and federally prosecuting anyone who threatens this sort of violence.”

Thorn was sentenced to the maximum sentence possible – and twice as long as sought by prosecutors – by judge William Jung on Wednesday (28 August), Reuters reported.