EXCLUSIVE: WCSD Sued Over Gender Identity Regulations And Parental Exclusion Policies
Lawsuit claims ‘Defendants have acted and are acting with reckless disregard for Plaintiffs’ fundamental parental rights’
By Megan Barth, March 27, 2023 4:58 pm
Attorney’s Sigal Chattah and Joey Gilbert have filed a lawsuit against Washoe County School District (WCSD) in relation to the district’s enforcement of regulation 5161 entitled Gender Identity And Non-Conformity Students. The regulation establishes protocols and informs staff regarding transgender and gender non-conforming students in WCSD. The regulation authorizes children to make fundamentally important decisions concerning their gender identity without any parental involvement and establishes protocols and polices to conceal these decisions from the parent, citing the privacy rights of students.
The concealing of this information from parents/guardians has now resulted in a multi-pronged, civil rights lawsuit brought by a concerned parent and a student from Depoali Middle School. This lawsuit is the first of its kind in Nevada, with similar lawsuits filed across the country, including actions by Attorneys General.
The plaintiffs’ claims that the concealment and information related to a child’s gender identity and “efforts to affirm a discordant student gender identity at school violates parents’ fundamental rights” under the US and Nevada Constitutions and “violates the child’s reciprocal rights to the care and custody of their parents, familial privacy and integrity and further violates their “fundamental right to free exercise of religion.”
Attorney Chattah told The Globe: “It’s a shame that our elected officials have allowed our schools to substitute the rights of parents in raising their children. Forcing parents to resort to litigation to protect their children from reckless demagoguery should never be a part of Nevada’s education system. This reckless disregard for parents rights by elected officials has compromised the health and well-being of students and their families. We intend on defending and protecting parental rights in Nevada to the full extent of the law.”
The lawsuit claims, with references to case law, expert opinions, and US Supreme Court decisions, that wide-spread parental exclusion policies “run directly against a strong body of case law recognizing parents’ constitutional rights to raise their children.”
The lawsuit further claims that gender affirming policies and practices run in direct violation of the first amendment by imposing “preferred pronoun policies” and punishments for the misgendering of a student.
Without any parental input, the District can (1) require all employees and students to address the child by a new name; (2) require all employees and students to address the child through a new pronoun; (3) have the child’s name changed on numerous government documents, including identification cards, yearbooks, and diplomas; (4) allow the child to use the restrooms, locker rooms, and changing facilities that correspond with the child’s gender identity; (5) allow the child to participate in physical education classes, intramural sports, clubs, and other events that correspond with the child’s gender identity; and (6) allow the child to room with other students who share the child’s gender identity. These are fundamental decisions implementing the most basic questions about a child’s life, including issues of religion, medical care, mental and emotional well-being, the child’s sense of self, and more.
The incidents cited in the lawsuit occurred at Depoali Middle School where a teacher had “hung a lesbian flag in the classroom.” The mother called the school and was informed that the teacher was part of a “Brave Space” program and had received special training provided by WCSD (see below).
Brave Space PowerPoint - LGBTQThe lawsuit notes:
Plaintiff was also provided a copy of Brave Space training flyer for a 3-part seminar instruction to teachers stating “[D]on’t miss your chance to help the students of Washoe County School District, by being someone they can come to with concerns. There is a new program in collaboration with Civil Rights Compliance, Counseling, and Equity and Diversity.
This three-part course covers an introduction to the Brave Space program, a training segment on offering support to LGBTQ+ students, and a training segment focused on the collective pursuit of cultural proficiency for all students, families and employees. Upon completion of all three courses, participants will be issued a Brave Space placard to display, indicating to students that you are a safe staff member to discuss matters pertaining to sensitive topics.
Following Plaintiffs’ investigation into the school’s policies, it became clear that Minor J. Doe was being retaliated against and isolated in disciplinary proceedings and reprimanded individually, even though engaging in behavior with a group of students.
Minor Doe, having no previous disciplinary issues prior to these incidents, now seemingly, having disciplinary issues at school and being sent to the principal’s office repeatedly.
The plaintiffs are demanding a trail by jury and are seeking costs associated with legal fees and damages related to their civil rights violations and legal claims.
COMPLAINT
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Parents have their rights. Leave people under 18 alone. Your can’t even smoke cigarettes under 21 In many places. I want life altering surgery at age 15?
Should 15 year olds be allowed to own “unsupervised” access to “assault weapons “ ?? NO !!! But I want my breasts or male member surgically removed or altered?? That’s OK ?
Seems strange. …. Was Paul Revere or Ben Franklin Transgender based on their dress in that era? Powdered wig, velvet waste coat, ruffles on shirt,, pointed slippers?? Guess everyone male in the 1700s was transgender?? Then the 1800s came, black vested suits, top hats, corsets etc. Then I guess all the folks in the 1800s were “cis straight “.
The the roaring 20s – and the Flappers? guess they were “trans” ???
Why would a prominent Nevada media personality think that their child is of a different sex because of the way they dress? when the way people dress is historically so “transitory”. Jon?
This has no place in any school.or the work place I don’t care if someone is any of these things I don’t need to know there sex orientation.pushed in my face or my children. I know some gay and lesbian people and they don’t even like this . They can’t even deal with students that are behavioral problems. Sexual orientation of any kind is not a child’s problem. Children want to go to school get an education in a safe environment which is not being provided. My own son is subject to some of this at nine years old totally inappropriate . he said he didn’t wanna even know anything about it and didn’t even know how babies were made. He has one of his 8 old friends the him she is lesbian and she hasn’t even gone through puberty yet . This is ridiculous .
How about we just get back to basics reading, writing, math,, science and history. in a safe place . when does a very small group get to dictate what the majority of the people want. You are violating parents and children’s right this needs to stop..
So very relieved to see someone in our community take on these mentally disturbed perverted people in our school districts. They are like a virus and they have spread through school districts through corporations, and they’re slowly trying to destroy families. These tactics are forms of brainwashing, indoctrination, better known as Psych-Ops. This is exactly how you break people down and reprogram. You teach them to not trust their parents, you lie to the parents and conceal information. Get the child to trust you and slowly manipulate and reprogram a child to your agenda. This is a form of indoctrination. It’s never ever acceptable to lie to parents about their child’s welfare and well-being children. Don’t let them tell you that trans people are more likely to be abused and targeted. That is simply not true trans people are not victims of hate crimes any more than other so-called minority group categorized by sexual orientations. Again, all of this is a diseased virus. That with most viruses, it will be cut out and it will be removed. This disgusting, perverted, mentally disturbed ideology will be stopped. This is a form of mental illness believing that a 10-year-old should have their penis cut off or have their breast removed is psychotic it’s not to be celebrated’s not to be encouraged.