A Massachusetts school district secretly promoted the gender transitions of a pair of siblings against their parent’s wishes, the outraged adults claim in a lawsuit.
Stephen Foote and Marissa Silvestri Ludlow said Ludlow Public Schools in middle-class Ludlow, Mass., “impermissibly inserted themselves into the private realm” of their family, superseding their “rights to make decisions regarding their children’s upbringing, mental health, and well being,” in a suit filed April 12 in Massachusetts federal court.
They had asked Paul L. Baird Middle School staff not to have private conversations with their kids about gender issues — but claim in court papers that the superintendent, principal, guidance counselor and teachers ignored the request, even referring to their biological daughter and son by other pronouns without the parents’ knowledge.
The children are identified in the legal filing only as B.F. and G.F., respectively.
B.F., who is 11, wrote in a February 28, 2021, email to school staff listing the pronouns they preferred, according to the legal filing.
“I am genderqueer. … My new name will be R**** … If you deadname me or use any pronouns I am uncomfortable with I will politely tell you … A list of pronouns you can use are: she/her he/him they/them fae/faerae/aer ve/ver xe/xem ze/zir. … Please only use the ones I have listed and not the other ones. I do not like them,” B.F. wrote, the parents said in court papers.
Marie-Claire Foley, B.F’s guidance counselor, replied to B.F. and the other school staff on the email exchange: “R**** [B****] is still in the process of telling his parents and is requesting that school staff refer to him as B**** and use she/her pronouns with her parents and in written emails/letters home,” the parents charge.
B.F.’s 12-year-old sibling asked teachers and counselors to address him by a female name, “S.” and concealed those conversations from the parents, the child’s parents alleged in the litigation.
The back and forth between school staff and the youngsters shows the school is “hiding it from parents intentionally,” said Andrew Beckwith, an attorney for the parents.
After B.F.’s teacher forwarded the chain to her parents, principal Stacy Monette placed the educator on leave — and cut short a meeting with B.F.’s parents at which they hoped to raise their concerns, according to court papers.
“The term groomer is being used a lot today,” Beckwith told The Post. “Imagine what goes through any parent’s mind when you have some other adult talking to your kid about sexuality — and saying we’re going to hide this conversation from your parents.”
“Despite the parents specifically telling the school, ‘We’re getting mental health treatment for our daughter and we don’t want the school interfering with that’ … [School staff] continued to have clandestine conversations,” he charged.
Chip Harrington, chairman of the Ludlow School Committee, said in a statement: “It’s a slippery slope. We want to support our students the best we can. But we should bring parents to the table, and hope they respond in a loving and supportive way as well.”
The school system claims to be acting in accordance with state gender guidance, but Beckwith says it has gone beyond that, pointing to a provision giving parents sole authority over gender disclosure for students 13 or younger.
The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education didn’t immediately return a message asking whether the Ludlow School Committee was acting within or outside state guidance.