Brighton (27J) School District: Parental Rights

Center for American Liberty

CPAN facilitated legal action on behalf of a Brighton area family whose minor daughter was treated as a different gender at school using a new name and pronouns without parental knowledge or consent. The case challenges Colorado state law and Brighton School District (27J) policies that permit school officials to withhold information from parents regarding a child’ s social gender transition and access to state sponsored mental health services.

CPAN assisted the family in connecting with legal counsel, coordinating strategic advocacy support, and amplifying public awareness of the case. According to the complaint, the family ’ s ninth-grade daughter sought support from a school counselor for anxiety and depression. Without notifying her parents, the counselor affirmed a male identity, initiated a social transition at school, and arranged telehealth counseling through Colorado ’ s I Matter program. School staff allegedly maintained dual records and used different names and pronouns with parents than those used at school, intentionally concealing the transition.

The lawsuit alleges violations of the parents ’ Fourteenth Amendment rights to direct the upbringing and care of their child, as well as due process and parental notice concerns arising from school facilitated mental health and social interventions. The parents are seeking injunctive and declaratory relief to prevent schools from socially transitioning students or arranging related services without parental notification or consent.

CPAN’ s involvement included intake through its Incident Reporting Tool; extensive fact-finding, research, and evidence collection; coordination with the affected family; and formal submission of the case materials to the Center for American Liberty, which subsequently assumed legal representation.