Wisconsin Parents Sue School District Saying That Educators Referred To Their Daughter With Male Pronouns and Name Without Their Knowledge

Several parents have filed a suit against a Wisconsin school district challenging a policy that allows teachers and school officials to refer to children by different names and gender pronouns without parental consent or knowledge. 

Represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom and the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, the parents are arguing that a Kettle Moraine School District policy takes away their right to make decisions about what is best for their children. 

One of the sets of parents suing the district said they took their 12-year old daughter out of the Kettle Moraine school system after finding out that her teachers were referring to their daughter by a male name and using male pronouns without their knowledge. 

After protesting the matter, the parents say that the school cited its policy that said educators did not need parental consent to use a different pronoun or name than those given by the parents. In effect, the policy allows for teachers and officials the ability to get around parents who do not want their child moving toward gender transition. 

Another set of parents joined onto the lawsuit, concerned about what impacts the policy might have on their children. 

ADF said that the school district did not respond to a letter they sent asking the district to change its policy. After this effort failed, the suit challenging the policy was filed Wednesday in the Waukesha Circuit Court.  

“Parents’ rights to direct the upbringing, education, and mental health treatment of their children is one of the most basic constitutional rights every parent holds dear. Yet we are seeing more and more school districts across the country not only ignoring parents’ concerns, but actively working against them,” said ADF Senior Counsel Kate Anderson. 

She argued that it is dangerous to allow schools to have the power to override and lie to parents by concealing information about their children. 

Anderson told The Daily Wire that she believes that many schools across the country have adopted similar policies to that of the Kettle Moraine School district. She said the Kettle Moraine policy means that the school can “allow and even encourage students to change their gender identity without telling parents, and in many cases lying to parents.” 

She also added that the parents, who say their daughter was referred to by school employees by a male name and pronouns, had sought out counseling to help with her mental health. 

According to Anderson, the school refused to