OPINION: No, teachers, the kids in your class aren’t yours. They’re the parents’.
The parents of a girl enrolled in a Houston high school are suing the school district, the superintendent, and a school principal for allowing teachers and staff to “socially transition” their daughter to a boy.
The Alliance Defending Freedom had sent a letter to the Houston Independent School District back in March “seeking confirmation” that various staff had “stopped treating one couple’s daughter as a boy.”
The couple, Sarah and Terry Osborn, had discovered a “masculine name” on one of their daughter’s assignments, and eventually learned Bellaire High School staff “had been treating [the daughter] as a boy for several months.”
(In fact, according to the Osborn’s lawsuit, one teacher “had crossed [the daughter]’s name out in red ink and written the masculine name next to it.”)
Despite demands the school cease referring to their daughter as a boy, Bellaire staff “repeatedly ignored [the Osborns’] instructions.
Bellaire Principal Michael Niggli “did not immediately assure” that the “social transitioning” would stop, and instead suggested a “middle ground” approach — have staff refer to the daughter “only by her surname.”
Niggli’s suggestion left the Osborns “with more questions than answers,” according to an ADF letter to the district’s general counsel. Follow-ups resulted in Niggli “declin[ing] to provide a clear assurance” the daughter would not be referred to as a boy.
The Osborns’ suit, filed Monday, alleges “for at least two school years, pursuant to the policy, over half a dozen HISD employees referred to [their] daughter as a boy without their notice or consent—in fact, notwithstanding their express objection” and that Niggli “refused to direct his subordinates to comply with the Osborns’ instructions.”
The suit notes Niggli (pictured) told the plaintiffs he would not send any emails to his staff “with directives to call [the daughter] by any particular name.”
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The complaint further alleges it was district policy to “refer to students by names and pronouns associated with the opposite sex on request of the student without parental notice or consent, while actively concealing these actions from parents, and even over express parental objections.”
The continued defiance of the Osborns’ requests amounted to a “psychosocial intervention for gender dysphoria” known as “social transitioning,” according to the lawsuit.
The Osborns seek a “declaration” that the district violated their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights, a “preliminary and permanent injunction” mandating their daughter “not be referred to by a masculine name or male pronouns,” and “compensatory [and] punitive” damages.
The conceit of teachers who believe they can override parents’ wishes never ceases to amaze me. In Texas, one is not a legal adult until age 18, so until that time it’s the parents’ job to make decisions for their child. Only in cases of potential (child) abuse should teachers and administrators initiate circumventions of a student’s caregivers.
As a former teacher, I can appreciate Principal Niggli’s attempt at a “middle ground” (they don’t want to embarrass or single out the daughter which could potentially lead to demeaning interactions with peers); however, once the Osborns gave the final word that should be it — end of discussion.
If educators believe — as Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates recently said — that your children are their children, there’s going to continue to be a big problem. And the Osborn’s suit may be just the beginning.
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IMAGE CAPTION & CREDIT: Copy of a lawsuit on a judge’s desk; Ulf Wittrock/Shutterstock.com. INTERIOR IMAGE: Michael Niggli/X