Michigan parents’ religious liberty claim against school district moves forward
The challenge places parental authority and religious freedom at the center of a debate over “gender identity” in public schools.
A federal judge Aug. 7 allowed a Michigan couple’s religious liberty claim to move forward in a lawsuit challenging their daughter’s public school for treating the middle-school student as “transgender” without her parents’ knowledge or consent.
Dan and Jennifer Mead brought the lawsuit against Rockford Public School District after learning of the district’s actions involving their daughter, according to an Aug. 10 release from Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which represents the couple.
According to the release, district staff used the girl’s legal name and female pronouns in communications with her parents but addressed her at school with a masculine name and male pronouns. The Meads learned of the change in October 2022, when a staff member inadvertently gave Dan Mead a document reflecting the school’s use of pronouns.
The couple withdrew their daughter from the district that month and filed suit in December 2023.
Kate Anderson, senior counsel and director of ADF’s Center for Parental Rights, said in the release that the case concerns the fundamental role of parents in raising their children.
“Parents have the right to direct the upbringing, education, and healthcare of their children — without government interference,” Anderson said. “Schools should never hide vital information from parents, yet that’s exactly what the Rockford Public School District did.”
The release said the Meads’ Christian faith is central to their lawsuit, including their belief that biological sex is “a gift from God” and that parents have a responsibility to guide their children accordingly.
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan dismissed the couple’s First Amendment religious liberty claim in August 2025 but allowed their Fourteenth Amendment parental-rights claim to proceed.
The court revisited that decision Aug. 7, citing a recent U.S. Supreme Court order in Mirabelli v. Bonta, a California case challenging policies that require teachers to conceal from parents when students show signs of gender dysphoria, as Zeale News previously reported.
According to the release, in reconsidering the claim, the court rejected the district’s argument that giving school staff discretion over notifying parents served its interest in student safety and success.
