Kissing Skits Scandal — Now She Teaches Kids

Empty classroom with desks and a chalkboard.

A teacher fired for graded same-sex kissing skits is now teaching younger kids, and that single fact exposes how fragile school “safeguards” really are.

Story Snapshot

Denver Public Schools fired French teacher Jennifer Honka after a formal investigation and judge’s review.
Students said they felt pressured to kiss classmates in graded skits like “The Boring Kiss.”^[2]
The judge found her methods “irresponsible and inappropriate” and backed termination for incompetence and neglect of duty.^[2]
Despite all that, she quickly landed a new job at a Colorado elementary school teaching English language arts.^[1]^[3]

How a kissing assignment turned into a unanimous firing

Jennifer Honka spent years teaching French language and culture at Northeast Early College in Denver Public Schools.^[2] Her classroom used biweekly French skits as graded assignments, including ones titled “The Neighbors Saw Everything” and “The Boring Kiss.”^[2] According to the investigation, these scripts directed students to kiss each other, often same-sex pairs, and those performances counted toward their grades.^[2] One student later shared a meme saying “she makes girls kiss,” and complained to staff that she felt pushed into the skit.^[2]

Students told investigators they felt pressure because the skits affected their grades and because of a posted classroom rule: “the answer is always ‘yes.’”^[2]^[6] That rule, according to the independent review, was commonly referenced and made students feel they should comply even when uncomfortable.^[1] One student said she refused to participate and got a zero. Another stayed in the kissing skit, but her attendance dropped after the incident, suggesting the impact went beyond one awkward class.^[2]

What the judge actually found, and why it matters

A Colorado administrative law judge reviewed the case after Honka appealed her termination, which is standard for due process.^[6]^[10] He agreed that the district proved “incompetence and neglect of duty,” pointing to both the kissing skits and repeated personal disclosures.^[5]^[10] He wrote that, whether or not students were literally forced, her choice of script put minors in a public situation where they had to signal consent to a “personal and sexualized activity” in front of peers under teacher authority.^[5]^[10] That crossed a line between teaching and coercion.

The judge also flagged how Honka spoke to students about her sexuality, using a sperm donor, her childhood abuse, fertility struggles, and suicidal thoughts.^[2]^[6] She claimed this built trust. The record says at least one student struggling with suicide left her class.^[2] From a common-sense, conservative view, this looks less like “connection” and more like dumping adult trauma on kids who came to learn French, not process their teacher’s mental health history.^[2]^[6]

Honka’s defense and the gap between intent and impact

Honka has denied forcing any student to kiss and testified she offered alternatives like blowing a kiss or fist bumps for those who were uncomfortable.^[1]^[2]^[3] That is an important detail. The judge and media reports make clear there was no finding that she physically compelled them.^[1]^[3]^[5] The core issue was that the scripts themselves, tied to grades and the “answer is always yes” rule, made teens feel they had to choose in public between obeying or resisting a sexualized direction from an authority figure.^[1]^[5]^[10]

This gap between teacher intent and student experience now defines many school controversies. National guidance tells educators that sensitive topics must be age-appropriate, tied to curriculum, and balanced, and that teachers should clear controversial lessons with administrators.^[18] Honka’s skits might have been meant as playful immersion in language. Yet when minors report feeling pressured, and the content involves kissing and personal trauma stories, modern school systems treat it not as quirky teaching but as a discipline case that needs investigation, documentation, and, here, termination.^[2]^[6]^[20]

From unanimous firing to a new elementary school job

Denver Public Schools’ board voted 7–0 to fire Honka, with no public debate, after both the district investigation and the judge’s recommendation.^[1]^[3]^[10] The district statement said her actions did not serve “the best interests of the children” and stressed student safety and dignity as top priorities.^[2]^[3] Conservative commentators pointed out that an adult making minors “participate in unwanted physical activities” would raise red flags anywhere else, and some argued she should face criminal scrutiny, not just job loss.^[6]^[8]

OMG

Denver Public Schools Board just voted UNANIMOUSLY to DISMISS lgbtq teacher Jennifer Honka after she reportedly made female students kiss each other and graded them on it

What is going on in these schools?! pic.twitter.com/vjEjTTAYGV

— James (@Jamesjonesik8) June 22, 2026

Despite all this, reporting now shows Honka listed as an English language arts teacher at a Colorado elementary school.^[1]^[3] She did not sit out even a single school year before returning to classrooms with younger, more impressionable children.^[1] Parents who believe schools should be safe, neutral ground have reason to ask hard questions: How did another district review this record and still hire her? What does “student protection” really mean if a teacher fired for sexualized, coercive classroom activities can simply move down the road and start again with elementary kids?