CA teachers claim school required them to lie to parents about students’ gender identity
California teacher and plaintiff Elizabeth Mirabelli and her attorney Paul Jonna join ‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ claiming the rule violates her constitutional First Amendment rights.
Two California middle school teachers filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against school district administrators and the California State Board of Education over policies they allege required them to deceive parents about their children's gender identity.
Elizabeth Mirabelli and Lori Ann West, both of whom taught for decades at Rincon Middle School in Escondido, claim the school's policies regarding transgender or "gender diverse" students effectively forced them to validate a child's gender identity regardless of parental consent, according to their lawsuit filed against Rincon Middle School, the Escondido Union School District (EUSD) and the California State Board of Education.
Mirabelli and her attorney Paul Jonna joined "Fox & Friends Weekend" to discuss why she is suing her school. Mirabelli and Jonna allege that the policy violates her freedom of religion and her freedom of speech rights.
People gather in support of transgender youth during a rally at the Utah State Capitol Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
According to Jonna, "The school is violating the parent's fundamental rights to raise their own kids. But in addition, they're compelling Elizabeth to speak in a way that violates her faith, to express views that she disagrees with and to deceive parents participating in these students' social transition.
He added, "When she's speaking to a parent, she's supposed to use the student's legal name. But with the kids, they're supposed to use the preferred name. So it's actively deceiving parents and blatantly unconstitutional."
The teachers claim they were mandated under the K-8 school district's policies to accept a child's transgender or gender-diverse identity without hesitation and to hide it from families. They said they were instructed to use students' preferred names and pronouns in school, but to revert to their biological pronouns and given names when speaking with their parents.
When encountering "a suspicious parent," teachers were instructed to reply that they were allowed only to discuss "information regarding the student’s behavior as it relates to school, class rules, assignments, etc.," according to the suit.
"Schools routinely send notes home to parents about trivial matters, like missing homework, so it is unfathomable that Escondido Union School District has a policy that forces teachers to withhold from parents some of the most fundamental and basic information about their children," Jonna said.
Additional reporting by Fox News Digital's Jon Brown.
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