Eastern Iowa’s Linn-Mar Community School District is at the center of a hot-button lawsuit that challenges the district’s transgender and gender identity policy through the district's newly-adopted Gender Support Plan.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court by a conservative parent group called Parents Defending Education. This parent group operates as a tax-exempt public charity that describes itself as a “nationwide, grassroots membership organization” made up of citizens and parents who are committed to preventing “the politicization of K-12 education” by means of advocacy and litigation.

Parents Defending Education details that the plaintiff includes seven Linn-Mar parents, none of whom are named in the lawsuit. The parents share that they have chosen to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation.

The child of one of the parents is on the autism spectrum and recently graduated 6th grade. According to the parent, the child has a difficult time distinguishing between female and male characteristics. Because of this, the parent is “ deeply concerned” that their child might make a statement that would be misinterpreted as an assertion of transgender identity by the school.

Another parent has a daughter enrolled in the local high school and believes that “people are either male or female.” This parent details that her daughter is part of a friend group and is the only one who does not identify as a member of the LGBTQ community. She fears that her daughter may receive a Gender Support Plan from school officials without parental knowledge.

Another parent represented in the suit believes that “people are either male or female and that a person cannot ‘transition’ from one sex to another.” This parent details that their child does not want to be “forced to affirm that a biologically female classmate is actually a male or to refer to a biologically male classmate as a female.”

The lawsuit takes issue with the school district's policy about facilitating a student's gender identity transition while keeping the parents in the dark. Under this new policy, children who are struggling with their gender identity can request a Gender Support Plan from the school district.

Within 10 days of requesting this plan, students will be able to meet with school officials, and students can dictate whether or not their parents or legal guardian will be a part of this meeting.

The school district’s policy explains, “Any student, regardless of how they identify, may request to meet with a school administrator and/or school counselor to receive support from the school and implement a Gender Support Plan.” The policy adds, “The student should agree with who is a part of the meeting, including whether their parent/guardian will participate.”

The lawsuit accuses the school district of leaving parents in the dark about issues their children may struggle with. “Importantly, the district will not tell parents whether their child has requested or been given a Gender Support Plan, whether the child has made requests or actions have been taken concerning their gender identity, or whether it has any other information that would reveal the child’s transgender status,” the lawsuit explains. “Indeed, the policy openly encourages children to deceive their parents by hiding the name and pronouns that they are using at school.”

If a student requests a Gender Support Plan, this plan allows them to create a set of guidelines that will ease their transition from one gender to another. As part of these guidelines, the district will have the ability to require all faculty and staff to address the student using their desired gender pronouns including any new names the child would like to be called by.

Faculty and staff will also be required to allow the student to use the restroom and locker room of their choice. Students will also be allowed to enroll in sports and other recreational activities that correspond to the gender they identify with.

The lawsuit takes issue with the school district's policy alleging that a student's actions as desired by their gender support plan can happen without any knowledge or input from the child’s parents.” The lawsuit emphasizes that “It is not just secrecy through silence … The district will withhold this information even if it is specifically requested by parents … Parents are completely and purposely left in the dark.”

Parents Defending Education not only targets the Linn-Mar School District specifically, but they take issue with the national approach to gender identity and transgender ideology throughout the nation. The lawsuit explains that gender identity policies “compel students to affirm beliefs they do not hold and that are incompatible with their deeply held convictions. So-called ‘preferred pronouns policies’ are an increasingly used method of compelling student speech… Under these types of policies, a student who uses ‘he’ or ‘him’ when referring to a biological male who identifies as a female will be punished for ‘misgendering’ that student.”

The parents behind the lawsuit are asking the court for a declaratory judgment that Linn-Mar School District's gender identity policy is a violation of the first and fourteenth amendments. The parents are also seeking an injunction that would keep the district from enforcing the policy.