Two parents from Florida have filed a federal lawsuit against their daughter's school, alleging it of orchestrating her gender transition and intentionally deceiving parents about it.
The lawsuit filed by Florida parents Jeffrey and January Littlejohn against Deerlake Middle School in Tallahassee, Florida alleged that school faculty and staff called the 13 year old female born student by her preferred name and pronouns and even allowed her to use the male restroom, without her parents' knowledge. The lawsuit also accused the school of telling their staff not to use the girl's preferred name and pronouns in the presence of her parents.
"What the school district did is tantamount to saying children need to be protected from their parents, rather than by their parents," the Florida parents' attorney, Veronica Broyles explained to the Washington Examiner. "This guidance that they had in place and their actions convey the message that parents are presumed to be dangerous to their children."
The Littlejohns argue that the school violated their parental rights under the U.S. and state Constitutions. Their daughter identified as non-binary and wanted to be called by the plural "they/them" pronouns. According to the lawsuit, the daughter had been diagnosed with ADHD and is seeing a counselor. The lawsuit also claimed that their daughter's self-identity is influenced by her circle of friends, which include three individuals who also identify as transgender.
The lawsuit claims that the school is "excluding parents from discussions regarding their child's/children's assertion of a discordant gender identity and adopting protocols aimed at secretively affirming the discordant gender identity" and that they are making "decisions that affect the mental health of their child in contravention of [the parents'] fundamental rights."
According to the Christian Headlines, controversy sparked when the Littlejohns' daughter asked her parents if she may be identified as non-binary and use a different name and pronouns at school. The Florida parents agreed to changing her name, but only as a nickname. They even informed their daughter's math teacher about the nickname but told the school that they wanted her to be identified as female in school and use female pronouns, the lawsuit recounted.
The lawsuit said that the Littlejohns were not aware until November 2, 2020 that their daughter, who was named "A.G." in the lawsuit, had requested to change her name with the guidance counselor. The lawsuit alleges that this request "unleashed a flurry of activity aimed at secretly affirming A.G.'s belief that she was nonbinary and was to be called 'J.' and be referred to by the pronouns 'they/them' by all of A.G.'s teachers in direct contravention of her parents' decisions and direction to school staff."
The Littlejohns found out that as of September 8, 2020, faculty and staff at Deerlake Middle School were informed about their daughter's "nonbinary" identity and were told to use her preferred name and pronouns, but not use her preferred name or gender-specific pronouns in the presence of her parents.
