A landmark lawsuit has been lodged by Colorado parents and their daughter against Colorado state concerning a state law which permitted a high school to facilitate their adolescent’s gender transition unbeknownst to them. The suit points that a school counselor at Brighton High School, without the parents’ awareness or consent, referred the 14-year-old girl to a transgender therapist who suggested extensive medical treatments.
The legal battle unfolds amid laws such as Colorado’s Name Change Law which mandates schools to use the chosen name and pronouns of transgender students. Furthermore, a 2021 school district policy, known as the Parental Exclusion Policy, precludes schools from reporting details of social transition to parents without the student’s consent.
In this case, the school shielded the social transition from the parents, treating their daughter by her female name among them while validating her chosen male identity at school. The parents, on realizing the school’s actions towards their daughter’s transition in her first year of high school, have sought legal action.
Their complaint asserts the significance of professional mental health supervision and extensive parental involvement in cases of social transitioning for minors. They argue that negligence in these aspects might exacerbate rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidal tendencies among such young individuals.
The suit is represented by the conservative nonprofit Center for American Liberty and Denver-based Gessler Blue law firm. The involved legal entities demand the court consider the Name Change Law and the Parental Exclusion Policy invalid and deter the school from enforcement during the ongoing lawsuit and thereafter.