DENVER — The parents of a Colorado girl are suing state and local authorities after her school helped her undergo a social gender transition, including using an opposite-sex name and connecting her with a transgender therapist without her family's knowledge.
The lawsuit filed by the anonymous couple seeks to block House Bill 1039, the newly enacted Colorado law requiring schools to use the nonlegal "chosen name" of gender-transitioning students as young as 5.
The complaint also challenges the 2021 policy of 27J Schools, a Brighton school district, forbidding staff from disclosing children's opposite-sex identity to their families without student permission.
"In Colorado, minors may not get a tattoo of their new name and pronouns without parental consent, but they may adopt that new name and pronouns at school without parental consent or even notice," said the motion filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for Colorado. "That is irrational, and these practices must end."
The student identified as A.D. was struggling with mental health issues as a high school freshman when she told her counselor last fall that she had a "transgender identification," according to the lawsuit filed by the Center for American Liberty and Colorado attorney Scott Gessler.
The counselor helped her adopt an opposite-sex name and pronouns at school, placing a "pronoun flag" on her file to alert staff to the change while concealing it from her parents.
The counselor also assisted in meeting with a transgender therapist through the state's "I Matter" youth counseling program , which offers six free sessions to children 12 and up without parental consent or notification, by letting A.D. use the counselor's office and computer for the sessions.
When the parents found out in March 2023, they enrolled their daughter in private counseling and refused her requests to undergo a mastectomy and take testosterone.
This past March, she told them that she "no longer identified as a boy and wishes to live life as a girl," said the lawsuit.
"A.D. regrets wanting to transition and now believes that her underlying mental health struggles prompted her to adopt a transgender identity," said the motion. "A.D. believes that her transgender identity was perpetuated in part by being affirmed through her social transitioning. A.D. is thankful that her parents did not allow her to undergo irreversible medical procedures."
The lawsuit argued that the state's Name Change Law and the 27J school district's Parental Exclusion Policy violate the First and Fourteenth Amendment rights of the parents, denying them due process and excluding them from medical decisions about their children.
"The Name Change Law and Parental Exclusion Policy impermissibly authorize the district to engage in health care treatment of children, in the form of socially transitioning them to a new gender, without obtaining parental consent or providing parental notice," said the filing.
HB 1039, which took effect in April, gives no direction to school districts on informing parents about their children's name changes, leaving such decisions to local school officials.
Jeremy Meyer, Colorado Education Department spokesman, said he couldn't comment on pending litigation, but noted that the department doesn't enforce the Name Change Law.
Any district that failed to abide by the law could face a discrimination complaint filed by families with the Colorado Civil Rights Division.
"Colorado law has long protected students from discrimination and harassment based on their gender identity," said Mr. Meyer in an email.
The 27J Schools LGBTQ+ Toolkit adopted in 2021 prohibits staff from revealing a student's "transgender status" to parents without student permission.
"Do not out students to anyone. Coming out to family, peers, etc. should be decided upon by the student," said the policy. "If the student does not have supportive parents/guardians, this could put the student at risk."
In addition, "Outing a student to other students/teachers/families is a violation of the student's FERPA rights," according to the policy, citing the U.S. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
A 27J Schools spokesperson said the district can't comment on ongoing litigation.
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