A deeply disturbing case of a teenage girl being socially transitioned to a male identity by her Fresno County school without her parents’ knowledge has come to light in a federal lawsuit challenging gender secrecy policies within the state’s public schools. The family’s heartbreaking journey began when their 14-year-old daughter, identified as Poe in the lawsuit, attempted suicide, leading to a shocking revelation by medical professionals. (The real names of the minors and their parents were not publicly made available in the lawsuit)
The parents, devout Catholics who chose their Fresno County home for its high-quality public schools, had no idea that their daughter had been identifying as transgender at school. She had requested teachers to use a male name and pronouns and even became president of the school’s LGBT club, PRISM, all without her parents’ knowledge.
The parents only learned of their daughter’s new identity when she attempted suicide last year, and was admitted to Fremont Hospital in the Bay Area, with its inpatient psychiatric program for adolescents. It was only then that a hospital doctor informed them that their daughter was identifying as a boy. Upon her return home, Poe revealed that her teachers had been using her preferred name and pronouns since the seventh grade.
“Upon learning about this, my husband and I contacted the school to ask if they were calling our daughter by a different name or using different pronouns. The school said, ‘no,’” the mother stated in the lawsuit. “However, we have learned that this was a lie, as handwritten letters and emails from teachers to our daughter indicated otherwise.”
The parents then enrolled Poe in an online homeschooling program and later a public charter school, because their daughter wanted in-person teaching at a traditional school.
After Christmas break in January 2024, the mother contacted her daughter’s charter school teachers about her progress, specifically if she was presenting as male. In response, an administrator sent a lengthy email that block-quoted large portions of the California Department of Education’s FAQ guidance on AB 1266 and summed up her conclusion with the following statement: “We cannot share the gender identity of the student with the parent even if that gender identity is expressed openly in class.” AB 1266 is a law passed in 2013 that allowed students to access sex-segregated bathrooms and participate in sex-segregated school programs based on their gender identity, not their sex. But the law says nothing about student privacy from their parents or anyone else.
With the school refusing to be honest and transparent, these parents again enrolled their daughter in an online homeschooling program. “Although she dislikes homeschooling and wants to return to in-person learning, we cannot risk placing her in a public school where teachers might withhold crucial information from us,” the mother stated.
Greg Burt, Vice President of the California Family Council, expressed his horror at the situation, stating, “It is appalling that schools are engaging in such deceitful practices, keeping parents ignorant about their own children. These secrecy policies are not only unconstitutional but incredibly dangerous. Youths struggling with their gender identity have incredibly high suicide rates. How can youths receive the guidance and emotional support they need from their parents if the parents are kept in the dark about their children’s struggles?”
Click here to learn more about the associated lawsuit challenging California’s secrecy policies and AB 1955, the recently signed bill prohibiting gender notification policies.
