After their 11-year-old daughter was told during an overnight school trip to share a bed with a biologically male of the same age who identifies as a transgender girl, the parents are demanding that the school district change its transgender policies, Catholic News Agency reported Wednesday.
The parents charged in a letter to Colorado's Jefferson County Public Schools that it violated their constitutional rights by failing to notify them of the sleeping arrangements and by not providing them with a formal opt-out.
The parents are represented by that Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which argued that the policy and the practice of the school district violates the parents' religious beliefs and their parental rights in the education and upbringing of their children.
ADF legal counsel Mallory Rechtenbach told CNA that the school district could solve the issue by giving parents an option for such sleeping arrangements when registering the children for a trip or simply ask the parents before making the arrangements.
Regarding overnight trips, the current school policy states that "in most cases, students who are transgender should be assigned to share overnight accommodations with other students that share the student's gender identity consistently asserted at school."
The policy adds that "any student who is transgender or not, who has a need or desire for increased privacy, regardless of the underlying reason, should be provided with a reasonable accommodation, which may include a private room" and "under no circumstance shall a student who is transgender be required to share a room with students whose gender identity conflicts with their own."
ADF has not yet received a response from the school district, according to Rechtenbach.
A spokesperson for the school district issued the following statement to CNA: "It appears that the student's transgender status was not known when room assignments were made and our understanding is that as soon as their transgender identity was known, room assignments were adjusted. We are working with the private travel organization to learn more and we anticipate a more detailed response by December 18 as ADF requests."
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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