Michigan parents will be allowed to sue a school district for allegedly treating their middle-school-aged daughter as a boy without their consent or knowledge.

Dan and Jennifer Mead, who are Christian, filed a federal lawsuit against the Rockford Public School District in Michigan in 2023 after a school employee inadvertently alerted the couple to the fact that school officials were treating their daughter, known as G.M. in the lawsuit, as male, which they alleged was a violation of their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. The parents are being represented by a conservative law firm, the Alliance Defending Freedom. The school district sought to have the lawsuit dismissed.

However, last week, a federal judge, Paul Maloney, allowed the lawsuit to move forward, but dismissed the plaintiffs’ claim that the district burdened their free exercise of religion. 

“The court concludes that the allegations in the complaint plead sufficient facts to survive the motion [to dismiss],” Judge Maloney, a Bush appointee, wrote. “The complaint contains sufficient factual allegations to support a claim for violations of the plaintiffs’ fundamental rights as parents in the care, custody, and control of their child, a right protected by the Fourteenth Amendment.”

The jurist wrote that the school district has a “compelling interest in ‘ensuring the safety of its students,’” but said, “Defendants have not met their burden to show how concealing a child’s gender transition from its parents promotes that child’s safety.”

Judge Maloney said, “The Supreme Court has long held that parents possess a right to direct their children’s health care, upbringing, and education. Plaintiffs have pled sufficient facts to plausibly show that the district’s policy and practices infringe on that right.”

A senior counsel for the ADF, Kate Anderson, said in a statement, “Parents have the right to direct the upbringing, education, and health care of their children—without government interference. Schools should never hide vital information from parents, yet that’s exactly what the Rockford Public School District did.”

“By intentionally concealing this information from the Meads, the school district violated their constitutional right as parents to make decisions about their daughter’s upbringing, education, and healthcare. We will continue to work toward final victory for the Mead family,” Ms. Anderson said. 

The Rockford Public School District did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication.

Parents across the country have faced setbacks this year in their efforts to stop school districts from letting students make decisions about their gender identity without their parents’ knowledge or consent. 

In February 2025, the New Jersey superior court blocked three school districts in Monmouth County from implementing policies that would have required school officials to notify parents if their children changed their gender identities. The same month, a federal appeals court in Massachusetts rejected parents’ objections to a school district’s policy that lets children decide whether they want their parents to be notified about changes to their gender identity.

In July 2024, California became the first state in America to pass a law preventing school districts from implementing policies that require school officials to notify parents if their children change their gender identities.