A Christian couple in Rockford, Michigan, has filed a lawsuit against the Rockford Public School District after discovering that their daughter, who is autistic, was being referred to with male pronouns and a masculine name without their knowledge or consent.
Dan and Jennifer Mead, represented by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), claim that teachers at East Rockford Middle School began using a different name and male pronouns for their 13-year-old daughter, referred to as G.M. in court documents, in the fall of 2022.
According to the lawsuit, the Meads were unaware of this until they discovered it accidentally when a school employee forgot to remove the new name and pronouns from their daughter’s records.
The Meads allege that their daughter’s transition to identifying as a boy began after she was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and Major Depressive Disorder in January of 2022.
However, the couple claims that they were never informed or consulted about any change in their daughter’s gender identity. The lawsuit also alleges that school staff intentionally concealed this information from the parents and changed their daughter’s records without their knowledge.
Furious parents, Dan and Jennifer Mead, sue Rockford Public schools in Michigan for using male pronouns for their 8th-grade autistic daughter without their knowledge https://t.co/u18xutqb9Z pic.twitter.com/6D2W6HdnIu
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) December 21, 2023
ADF Senior Counsel Kate Anderson stated in a press release, “Parents, not the government, have the right to direct the upbringing, education, and health care of their children.” She further added, “Schools should never deliberately hide vital information from parents, yet that’s exactly what the Rockford Public School District did.”
The Meads said that they withdrew their daughter from the school district and began homeschooling her after finding out about the school’s use of male pronouns and a different name for their daughter. They claim that the district’s actions have violated their “sincerely held religious beliefs and parental rights.”
Rockford is a relatively conservative area just north of Grand Rapids, but according to ADF, the school district “went along with the radical gender theories pushed by many on the Left.”
Superintendent Steven Matthews said that the district had not read through the legal documents completely and that they respect the privacy of the family, so they have no comment at this time.
The couple is seeking unspecified damages for the violation of their parental rights and religious beliefs, as well as the emotional distress caused to their daughter and themselves. The Meads’ attorney, Roger G. Severino, said in a statement, “The Meads trusted the school district to respect their family’s beliefs and knew East Rockford Middle School had a culture of caring for its students. Instead, school officials betrayed the Meads and ignored G.M.’s rights, too.”
The Meads’ lawsuit highlights the ongoing debate surrounding the rights of transgender students in public schools and the role of parents in their children’s education. It also raises questions about the responsibilities of schools in regard to students’ mental health and the importance of transparency and communication with parents. The case will likely spark further discussion and could have significant implications for similar cases in the future.
