Parents across the country have expressed outrage in recent years over the perceived leftist indoctrination taking place within the public school system.
One major source of conflict involves the promotion of transgenderism — and a school in Maine is now being sued for allegedly encouraging a teen student to change her gender while intentionally keeping the transition a secret from her parents.
According to the lawsuit filed by Amber Lavigne, she found a chest binder in her daughter’s room late last year. The garment is used to help girls and women flatten their breasts to more convincingly portray themselves as male.
After inquiring about the discovery, the mother said she learned that her daughter’s school provided the binder months earlier and had been referring to the 13-year-old girl using a boy’s name and pronouns. Furthermore, a school social worker promised the girl that the school would not tell her parents about the transition.
The mother contacted administrators at the Great Salt Bay Community School, who defended their action and referred to her daughter as a boy.
“This was no accident: my daughter’s public school counselor deliberately tried to keep me in the dark, encouraging my daughter’s gender transition and encouraging her to hide it from me,” Lavigne asserted. “When school officials found out, they actually defended the counselor’s actions, trampling on my constitutional rights at every turn. I deserve to know what’s happening to my child — the secrecy needs to stop.”
The Goldwater Institute is representing the mother and filed a motion in February aimed at changing the school’s policy to one that would mandate informing parents about any changes that would fundamentally impact a student. The conservative organization’s lawsuit against the school board, counselor, and other key officials alleges that the decision to keep the teen’s transition from her mother violated Lavigne’s constitutional rights.
“The Supreme Court has repeatedly held, over the last century, that parents have a fundamental right to control and direct the education, upbringing, and healthcare decisions of their children,” said Goldwater Institute attorney Adam Shelton. “But parents cannot meaningfully exercise this right if public schools hide vital information about their children from them — which is exactly what the Great Salt Bay Community School did to Ms. Lavigne.”
PENNSYLVANIA SCHOOLS WILL KEEP PARENTS IN THE DARK WHEN KIDS DECLARE THEIR PREF GENDER DIFFERENT THAN THEIR OWN
“School personnel should not disclose information that may reveal a student’s gender expansive or transgender status presentation to others, including the student’s… pic.twitter.com/ngEIj1uJQs
— AMErikaNCRYPTOGirl ♥️ (@AMErikaNGIRLLL) April 3, 2023
Similar controversies have surrounded other schools, including in Riverside County, California, where a Christian teacher resigned earlier this year because she said she was ordered to lie to parents about their children’s gender identity.
