The parents of a Michigan student whose changed gender identity was hidden from them by a school district will be allowed to proceed with most of their lawsuit against the district, a federal judge ruled on Thursday.
Judge Paul Maloney of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan issued a mixed ruling on the school district’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit. Maloney dismissed the Meads family’s claims the school district violated their First Amendment rights under the Free Exercise Clause, but did uphold the claims the school district violated the parents’ 14th Amendment rights to direct their child’s upbringing, education, and healthcare, along with depriving their liberty without due process.
“Plaintiffs plausibly allege that the District infringed upon the first set of rights when it failed to inform them of their child’s requested gender transition and when it deceived them so they wouldn’t find out besides their child telling them. Plaintiffs plausibly allege that the District infringed upon the second set of rights when it conducted a ‘psychosocial intervention’ to treat their child’s gender dysphoria and other mental health disorders,” Maloney said in his ruling.
“Because Plaintiffs have sufficiently plead the existence of a fundamental right, Defendants’ only challenge to the procedural due process claim fails. The court will, however, dismiss Plaintiffs’ free exercise claim,” Maloney continued.
Dan and Jennifer Mead filed their lawsuit against the Rockford Public School District in December 2023, alleging the school treated their daughter, identified as G.M. in court documents, as a boy and socially transitioned her to be referred to by a male name and pronouns in school without informing the parents. The parents also allege the school actively concealed the gender identity transition by changing the daughter’s name from the male name to the female name on documents sent to them, with the Meads only finding out when an employee forgot to change the name on one form sent to them.
Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative law firm involved in the case, celebrated the judge’s decision to allow most of the case to proceed, saying Friday that they “will continue to work toward final victory for the Mead family.”
“Parents have the right to direct the upbringing, education, and health care of their children—without government interference. Schools should never hide vital information from parents, yet that’s exactly what the Rockford Public School District did,” Kate Anderson, Director of the ADF’s Center for Parental Rights and senior counsel for the group, said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
“District employees didn’t even notify Dan and Jennifer Mead—let alone seek their consent—before beginning to call their young daughter by a masculine name and male pronouns. Worse, district policy required altering official records to conceal the district’s actions. By intentionally concealing this information from the Meads, the school district violated their constitutional right as parents to make decisions about their daughter’s upbringing, education, and healthcare,” Anderson added.
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The case is one of several lawsuits in recent years over LGBT policies in schools, including schools socially transitioning children without parental knowledge or consent and allowing biological males to compete in women’s sports.
Many of these legal battles have made their way up to the Supreme Court, with the justices slated to hear a pair of cases involving transgender sports policies. In June, the Supreme Court ruled that schools must allow parents to opt out of lessons in which LGBT books are presented in the classroom.