A group of 21 Republican-led states is suing on behalf of Florida parents who for follow-up their daughter’s school after teachers launched a ‘transgender support plan’ for their 13-year-old child without seeking parental consent.
January Littlejohn said her then 13-year-old daughter had a group of friends who were ‘obsessed’ with all things LGBTQ, and when three of them started identifying as trans or non-binary , her daughter said she was confused. on his own sex.
Despite taking their daughter to a counselor to help her work through her confusion, the Littlejohns learned that school bosses had spoken to the youngster about changing her name and which bathroom she wanted to use – without their permission.
As a result, Littlejohn and her husband sued the school for violating their parental rights at the end of 2021, and now other heads of state are getting involved.
Littlejohn, center left, and her husband, right, with their family. Littlejohn and her husband are parents of three children. They live in Tallahassee, Florida
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, who is leading the 21-state brief in favor of the Littlejohns with Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, told DailyMail.com that it is “unconscionable” for school districts to exclude ” deliberately” the parents’ decisions.
“Parents have a fundamental and long-standing constitutional right to direct the upbringing and care of their children,” he said.
“Unfortunately, this is happening in schools across the country. It’s long overdue for the courts to do their job and step in to protect children and put an end to wacky school administrators who violate parents’ rights,’ Knudsen continued.
The heads of state filed the brief Tuesday in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
States that have signed in addition to Montana and Florida include: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.
The case rose to prominence when Florida Governor Ron DeSantis tweeted about it as he worked to pass his parental rights bill.
The now-passed bill prohibits teachers from giving instruction in the classroom about “sexual orientation” or “gender identity” in kindergarten through twelfth grade.
He posted on March 28: “The bill I signed today protects Florida parents like January Littlejohn. School officials manipulated her ‘transition’ daughter, calling her a male name and pronouns without January’s knowledge or consent This is not true and today’s legislation will ensure this does not happen again.
When school resumed in 2020, Littlejohn informed a teacher at Deerlake Middle School in Tallahassee, Florida of the situation and informed her that she and her husband were not affirming the new name and preferred pronouns of their daughter at home while they worked on her feelings. , and that they didn’t think the transition was in his best interest.
Littlejohn says officials at Deerlake Middle School in Tallahassee, Fla., gave his daughter a ‘transgender support plan’ to complete after expressing gender confusion
The case rose to prominence when DeSantis tweeted about it on March 28 as he signed his parental rights bill
Littlejohn also told the teacher that she was okay with her daughter adopting her favorite name as a nickname at school.
But weeks later, Littlejohn said after a day at school, his daughter happily told him she had spoken with officials about her name change and they asked her which bathroom she wanted. wanted to use.
Appalled by the discussion the school had had with his daughter without parental consent, Littlejohn immediately called them and asked about it.
The school’s guidance counselor and vice-principal told him they couldn’t disclose what they talked about at the meeting and that Littlejohn’s daughter had to give her consent to the settlement so her parents would know. or be present for future discussions. .
“My 13-year-old daughter who cannot vote, drink or enter into any other legal contract without our permission or input,” Littlejohn said in 2021.
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen leads the 21-state case in favor of the Littlejohns with Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody
Littlejohn says that after several weeks of back and forth with the school district, the principal finally showed him a “transgender non-conforming student support plan” that the school had completed with his daughter.
“It was a six-page document that she filled out with the assistant director of guidance counseling and a social worker I had never met.”
“They asked her questions that would have had a total impact on her safety, such as which bathroom she preferred to use and which gender she preferred to sleep with on night excursions,” Littlejohn said on Fox & Friends. First in May.
The document also asked for the student’s preference on preferred names, pronouns, sports teams and locker rooms, and whether or not he wanted his parents to be told about his transition.
“The plan also said to use his birth name when we were actually spoken to to mislead us about the social transition that had occurred,” Littlejohn said.
