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.
A California middle school teacher who sued her school for its alleged policy of keeping students' gender identity a secret from parents said she had to go on administrative leave for the rest of the year after being harassed at school.
Elizabeth Mirabelli and fellow teacher Lori Ann West, both of whom have taught for decades at Rincon Middle School in Escondido, filed a federal lawsuit against the school's leadership in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California on April 27 after the women claimed they were effectively required to lie to parents about their children if they assumed a different gender identity in school.
Since filing the lawsuit with the help of attorneys at the nonprofit Thomas More Society, Mirabelli claims she has been maligned as sexist, racist, homophobic, hater, "old hag" and against transgender people and potentially responsible for their suicide, according to a sworn statement filed Monday.
Elizabeth Mirabelli claims she was told to keep students' gender identity a secret from their parents. (Courtesy Elizabeth Mirabelli)
Claiming she was "very afraid of bullying and retaliation" if she were to speak up against the school policy, Mirabelli said "my fears were proven justified" after she and West filed their lawsuit.
On her first day back teaching after the filing, Mirabelli noted that other teachers were "conspicuously" wearing rainbow Pride colors in an apparent protest of her case.
Mirabelli claimed other teachers "conspicuously" displayed rainbow Pride paraphernalia in an apparent protest of her case. (Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images)
"It also seemed to me that various teachers were spreading false rumors about this lawsuit and what it is about," Mirabelli wrote. "For me, this lawsuit is about not stepping between parents and their children. That relationship is sacred. I never want to deceive parents or teach children that it is okay to lie to their parents. At its most basic, I cannot provide the moral example to children that it is okay to hide important matters from their parents."
"As stated above, I teach seventh graders," she added. "They are predominantly 12-year-old children."
Elizabeth Mirabelli and Lori Ann West, both of whom taught for decades at Rincon Middle School in Escondido, California, claim school policies required them to lie to parents. (Credit: Google Maps)
Mirabelli went on to say that 15 small posters, apparently made by young students, were put up in her classroom while she was gone, which she claimed "necessarily required various school personnel to have coordinated with the children."
The posters included messages such as, "Have a despicable day," "My parents except [sic] me, why don't you?" and, "I thought school was a place where we can be accepted, not judged by sexists and racists."
Elizabeth Mirabelli said 15 small posters apparently made by young students were put up in her classroom while she was gone, which she claimed "necessarily required various school personnel to have coordinated with the children." (Thomas More Society)
The teacher also mentioned the circulation of a video depicting approximately 20 students during a band class singing a song about self-acceptance while some of them wore small Pride flags, and one student ran around using a Pride flag as a cape.
"When I saw the video, I was extremely saddened," Mirabelli said. "It appeared to me that the students were being used as pawns to make a political point. Children should never be used in this way — which is part of the reason that I filed this lawsuit."
A poster in Elizabeth Mirabelli's classroom reads, "My parents except [sic] me for who I am so why don't you?" (Thomas More Society)
"Instead of protecting me and attempting to calm things down, Rincon Middle School allowed various teachers to either directly harass me for this lawsuit or use students as intermediaries to harass me," Mirabelli alleged.
Neither Rincon Middle School nor the Escondido Union School District immediately responded to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Mirabelli and West, whose case is slated to be heard on June 26, are seeking a preliminary injunction that will keep them from having to enforce the school's gender policy throughout the duration of the case. The two have received support from Dr. Erica Anderson, a Berkeley-based clinical psychologist who identifies as transgender.
"I thought school was a place where we can be accepted not judged by sexists and racists," reads another poster in Elizabeth Mirabelli's classroom. (Thomas More Society)
"A school-facilitated transition without parental consent interferes with parents’ ability to pursue a careful assessment and/or therapeutic approach prior to transitioning, prevents parents from making the decision about whether a transition will be best for their child, and creates unnecessary tension in the parent-child relationship," Anderson wrote in a declaration for the case.
"Nor is facilitating a double life for some children, in which they present as transgender in some contexts but cisgender in other contexts, in their best interests."
Dr. Erica Anderson, who identifies as a transgender woman, warned school policies to hide gender identity from parents "creates unnecessary tension in the parent-child relationship." (Dr. Erica Anderson)
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Anderson added that the school district's gender policies "are inconsistent with the best practices of all leading mental health professional associations and are more likely to lead to student harm than safety."
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