A Brighton couple is suing the state of Colorado, alleging that a law dealing with transgender identity violates parents’ constitutional rights and that their daughter, with the encouragement of a school district counselor, transitioned to a boy in secret.
The couple filed the Aug. 7 lawsuit against the Department of Education, and the 27J School District in Brighton. The suit seeks to challenge the constitutionality of House Bill 1039 , claiming it violates parents’ rights as outlined in the First and 14th Amendments of the American Constitution.
The Colorado law requires all public schools to use a child’s “preferred name,” subjecting schools to discrimination claims with the state's Civil Rights Commission if they refused if to use that preferred name.
It's one of several measures in this year's legislative session that dove into school children's transgender identity.
“When we went to the well demanding HB23-1039 be stopped and they wouldn’t listen, we told the Dems there would be lawsuits and rightfully so. The counselors, teachers and schools have no right stepping into a parental role that takes kids down a path of no return," Republican Rep. Brandi Bradley posted on X on Saturday.
"I hope more parents come forward and sue,” she added.
The lawsuit said states across the country are grappling with a mental-health crisis among young people, and that a vulnerable group includes students struggling with their gender identity.
"Sadly, the state of Colorado and public schools across the state have erected barriers between these children and their parents — the very people who love and support them — leading to more isolation and harm," the lawsuit said. "And the government has violated parents’ constitutional rights in the process.”
The couple, identified in the lawsuit as Jane and John Doe, said the school district in Brighton encouraged their daughter, A.D., to transition from a girl to a boy.
The lawsuit said when their daughter was a 14-year-old freshman attending Brighton High School, she asked a school counselor to help her transition to a male under the identity of Z.D.
“Following school policy, the counselor assisted A.D. with the transition,” the lawsuit states. “But neither the counselor nor anyone else at the school told the (parents). Instead, the school concealed the transition from the Does, referring to A.D. as A.D. in conversations and communications with the Does while referring to A.D. as 'Z.D.' at school.”
The lawsuit claimed that the counselor took the process further, helping A.D. talk to a therapist through the state’s I Matter program , which provides free virtual therapy sessions to youth. To conceal this, the lawsuit said, the counselor arranged the therapy sessions on the counselor’s own computer so A.D.’s parents could not discover that the gender transition process was taking place.
In the spring of A.D.’s freshman year, the parents began to suspect that the school had “socially transitioned” their daughter in secret.
“But by then, A.D.’s trust of her parents had deteriorated due to the school’s action,” the lawsuit claimed. “The Does are loving and supportive parents, and they wanted their daughter to explore the root of her distress through therapy rather than view transitioning as a panacea that would solve all problems. But because A.D. was convinced that transitioning was the only answer, her parents’ alternative approach appeared unsupportive. While the Does informed the counselor they did not want A.D. to be socially transitioned, the school nevertheless continued to treat A.D. as if she were a boy.”
Over the next year, the lawsuit said, A.D. came to realize she did not want to have a “transgender identity.”
“She now believes that her prior identification as a boy was a subconscious attempt to mask her other mental-health struggles,” the lawsuit said. “Recognizing that changing who she is was not the answer, A.D. is on the path to a happier and healthier life. But she is now faced with the daunting tasks of informing her school that she no longer identifies as a boy, de-transitioning at school, and remaining resolute in the de-transition.”
The lawsuit added that, while A.D. is on the path to recovery, “her gender journey is not complete” and that A.D. will likely experience a “transgender identity,” again.
“A.D.’s school has harmed the Does’ relationship with her, and Defendants will continue to harm the Does unless the Court enjoins them from socially transitioning children at school without parental consent, or at very least, notice,” the lawsuit added.
The lawsuit said the Brighton couple is filing the claim to “vindicate their rights to protect all Colorado children from Defendants’ dangerous actions.”
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