LOS ANGELES, CA - A Los Angeles couple is suing the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), accusing the district of employing a “secrecy policy” to hide their son’s declaration that he was a female from them, The New York Post reports.
Kathleen Mulligan and Andrew Parke claim the school district conspired to hide their son’s alleged “transition” from them, worked to “sever” the relationship between them and their only son, Dylan, and were ultimately responsible for driving him to suicide, according to a federal lawsuit naming the LAUSD, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, and others.
According to the suit, Dylan was struggling to fit in as a sophomore at Palisades Charter High School in LA in 2019-2020 when he asked school staffers to use “she/her” pronouns to describe him, and he would go by the name “Aria” as he transitioned into becoming a woman.
Dylan had been diagnosed with depression and was undergoing mental health treatment, the suit says. He also “appeared easily influenced and preoccupied with how others perceived him.”
The parents said they had a “proactive” involvement in Dylan’s life, but despite that, school staff kept his trans declaration a secret, which drove a wedge between him and his parents, court papers allege.
Moreover, the school system ignored Mulligan’s August 2020 email in which she voiced her concerns, admitting that he was “transitioning” socially.
Mulligan made it clear that she was “not transphobic” but told staffers that Dylan, described as a “bright and sensitive student who was deeply loved," may have been on the autism spectrum, and was “easily influenced” and suffering depression from being left off the school’s baseball team.
Mulligan stated her "belief that Dylan was particularly vulnerable to social contagion related to gender identity, as his ‘trans identity’ appeared to provide him with a sense of belonging and validation from peers who were being celebrated for similar disclosures,” she alleged in the lawsuit.
“If I thought Dylan was really trans, I would have a different mindset, but I know my son better than anyone, and I know he is struggling, and I want what is best for him. He has so much potential, and I worry about his mental health,” she wrote.
The school system, however, ignored Mulligan’s message and “further…denied them the opportunity to participate in the care of their minor son,” the legal filing continued.
Instead, the school system treated Dylan’s “transition” as an "absolute directive and affirmed and reinforced it enthusiastically and with praise and support,” while also providing him information on housing for LGBTQ youth, the suit alleges.
It is not clear, however, whether Dylan began to physically transition.
The lawsuit alleges that the LAUSD’s interactions with Dylan destroyed the Parke family, leaving the parents confused and “walking on eggshells” and Dylan “withdrawn, oppositional, and distrustful.”
In its June 2022 graduation program, Dylan was listed as “Aria Parke.”
In March 2024, Dylan committed suicide at the age of 19.
The suit alleges that the district’s “secrecy policy” weakened and “severed” the parent-child relationship and “ultimately resulted in Dylan’s suicide.” The couple is seeking unspecified damages.
“It is every parent’s nightmare,” Mulligan and Parke said in their lawsuit.
“There are no more birthdays to celebrate, there is an empty seat at the Thanksgiving table, [they] will never see Dylan graduate from college, have a family, or watch him reach his full potential.”
A lawyer for the couple spelled out the hypocrisy of the district’s policy regarding so-called trans youth.
“In schools, parents must give permission for nearly everything, including receiving medicine, school trips…yet the secrecy policy at issue excluded parents from the incredibly consequential decision to transition their children,” attorney Aaron Siri told The New York Post.
In 2024, California passed AB1955, a controversial law that bars schools from revealing a student’s gender identity unless the child gives permission. The law was struck down last December by a federal judge.
The Supreme Court has also weighed in, ruling earlier this month that blocks California from enforcing state rules that limit when schools can notify parents if a child comes out as transgender and require teachers to use students’ preferred pronouns.
In a 6-3 decision, with liberal loons Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown-Jackson dissenting, the high court allowed a federal judge’s ruling to stand, siding with parents who objected to the policy on religious grounds, while the case continues. There is an appeal currently pending in the federal court in San Francisco.
Parents in the San Diego area argued that the state’s non-notification policy violated their right to religious freedom and due process. A federal court judge initially ruled in favor of the parents, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals paused the ruling while the state prepared an appeal.
The SCOTUS decision lifts the pause; the appeal is still pending before the Ninth Circuit.
California Gov. Greasy Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, was apoplectic after the ruling, telling The Post: “Teachers should be focused on teaching–not forced to be gender cops.”
“The shadow docket ruling by the Supreme Court undermines student privacy and the ability to learn in a safe and supportive classroom, free from discrimination based on gender identity,” Newsom whined.
In other words, Newsom is again on the wrong side of an 80/20 issue.
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