Court sides with Pa. parents in suit over transgender lesson for first graders

Megan Tomasic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Oct 10, 2024

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PITTSBURGH — The rights of several Mount Lebanon School District parents were violated when a first-grade teacher read two books with transgender characters and did not give parents the option to opt out of the lesson, a 94-page opinion issued in a more than two-year-long lawsuit found.

The opinion, issued last Monday by U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti in Pittsburgh, is "an across the board victory," Attorney David Berardinelli said, for the three mothers — Carmilla Tatel, Stacy Dunn and Gretchen Melton — who originally brought the suit in 2022 following a lesson on gender dysphoria and transgender transitioning by Jefferson Elementary School teacher Megan Williams.

"We are pleased that Judge Conti did a detailed examination of the facts and the law and confirmed what we have said from the start — all parental rights and beliefs matter and should be respected in public education and certain rights and beliefs cannot and should not be disregarded or ignored in favor of others," Berardinelli said in a statement. "We are (hopeful) the District now understands this and will act accordingly."

Attorneys representing the district and other defendants involved in the case did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

The lawsuit first came two years ago after Williams read "When Aiden Became A Brother" by Kyle Lukoff, which follows the character of Aiden who realizes he is a transgender boy, and "Introducing Teddy, a gentle story about gender and friendship" by Jessica Walton, which focuses on the transgender transition of one character and the support they receive from their friend. The books were used to celebrate Transgender Awareness Day.

But the problem, Judge Conti wrote, is that the district or teacher never informed parents of the planned lesson, meaning they were not given the option to opt their child out.

"Absent a compelling governmental interest, parents have a constitutional right to reasonable and realistic advance notice and the ability to opt their elementary-age children out of noncurricular instruction on transgender topics and to not have requirements for notice and opting out for those topics that are more stringent than those for other sensitive topics," Judge Conti ruled.