Parents in Colorado are suing their school district over policies that allow biologically male students to room with female students during school trips without parental consent. The lawsuit, filed by Alliance Defending Freedom, alleges that the district’s policy violates parents’ rights and places students in potentially unsafe situations. The case centers on an incident where an 11-year-old girl was allegedly placed in a hotel room with a transgender-identifying male student during a school trip to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., leading to a legal battle over gender identity and parental rights.
According to the complaint, the district’s policies allow biologically male students to share overnight accommodations with girls based solely on gender identity, without notifying parents or seeking their consent. The lawsuit argues that this practice violates parents’ fundamental right to make decisions about their children’s upbringing and education. The school district’s policy, as outlined in the complaint, permits students to be assigned overnight accommodations based on gender identity, despite assurances from officials that boys and girls would be placed on different hotel floors.
The case involves the family of an 11-year-old girl who was reportedly assigned to a two-bed hotel room with three other students, two girls from her school and one from another school in the district. The daughter learned that her bedmate was biologically male and identifies as a transgender female, prompting her to call her mother, who was serving as a chaperon nearby. The room assignment, despite the district’s claims, contradicts its own policy that allows for gender-based assignments without parental input.
The lawsuit also includes another incident in which a family of an 11-year-old boy attended a school-run camp and was told his counselor would be male, only to find out later that the counselor was a biologically female adult who identifies as non-binary and was assigned to supervise the boys in their cabin and during showers. The ADF, a conservative legal organization, argues that the district’s policies infringe on the rights of religious students to access educational opportunities without compromising their children’s bodily privacy.
Jefferson County Public Schools has not yet responded to requests for comment, but the lawsuit continues to highlight the tension between parental rights and institutional policies on gender identity. The case,