A Maryland school district is being sued after parents accused school officials of hiding their daughter’s social gender transition and then citing district policy to justify keeping them in the dark. The lawsuit, led by America First Legal (AFL), argues that Anne Arundel County Public Schools’ policies violate parents’ First and 14th Amendment rights.

Background

The dispute began in December 2025 after a teacher accidentally emailed the parents using a male name for their daughter before attempting to recall the message and later claiming it had been sent to the wrong recipient. The lawsuit alleges the teacher later admitted the explanation was false and acknowledged the student had requested to be called by a male name.

The parents then instructed school officials to use only their daughter’s legal name and requested records related to the school’s actions. However, the complaint alleges school administrators refused those requests, citing the district’s policies and telling the parents that school staff were required to honor the student’s preferred name while at school.

Legal Action

AFL is leading the lawsuit on behalf of anonymous parents identified as John and Jane Doe. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland and is part of a growing wave of legal challenges targeting school districts with policies allowing staff to withhold information about a student’s gender identity from parents.

Ian Prior, senior advisor at America First Legal and counsel for the plaintiffs, said the district ignored the precedent set by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Mirabelli v. Bonta, which reinforced parents’ constitutional rights over decisions involving their children.

Prior stated that the Supreme Court made clear that ‘parents have a fundamental right to raise their children’ and argued schools cannot facilitate a child’s social transition without parental notice and consent.

Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.