Wyoming school district sued for hiding child’s gender transition from parents

A Wyoming couple is filing a lawsuit against their daughter’s school district for allegedly helping her socially transition to a boy.

Sean and Ashley Willey are asserting three civil claims against the Sweetwater Country School District #1 board of trustees and other school administrators.

The Willey’s accused the district of calling their 15-year-old daughter by a boy’s name and using he/him pronouns behind their backs, taking away their parental and due process of rights, familial privacy rights and religious rights.

The parents are asking a federal court to stop the district’s alleged policy that allows children to transition genders without notifying the parents, compensation for the damages the alleged polices have caused and for the district to reimburse all their expenses from the lawsuit.

The school district has denied the allegations.

“The allegations made by this out-of-state organization are completely false, fabricated and appear to be intended solely for the purpose of inciting the public,” Assistant Superintendent Nicole Bolton wrote in an email to the Cowboy State Daily.

Ashley Willey is also a teacher in the district and claims she has been required to follow the same policy.

“(Staffers are) deceiving parents by treating and referring to children one way when communication with parents and another way at school,” the suit alleges.

Ashley Willey found out her daughter went by another name at a district-wide training when talking with other Black Butte High School teachers. The teachers allegedly admitted to calling Willey’s daughter by a different name and pronoun the entire school year.

Ashley Willey then sent a direct message to the teachers and staff at her daughter’s school, instructing them to no longer use a boy’s name or pronouns when addressing her.

“She’s a CHILD who is not old enough to make life changing decisions such as these,” the message reads. “And even though this is absolutely none of anyone’s business besides… our family and her counselor, she has stated multiple times that she felt pressured into calling herself a boy, and that makes her uncomfortable.”

The Willeys say transitioning goes against their deeply held religious beliefs that human beings are created male or female, with no exceptions. They also say the district’s failure to involve them in the matter goes against an educational plan they have in place with the school based on their daughter’s mental health struggles.