Littlejohn v. School Board of Leon County
Description: A Florida school district met secretly with a 13-year-old girl, behind her parents’ back, to develop a “gender support plan” that permitted the girl to use pronouns inconsistent with her sex. The plan also indicated that school staff should begin using a different name and “they/them” pronouns when referring to the child at school, but would use the child’s given name and “she/her” when talking to her parents, intentionally keeping the parents in the dark about what was going on with their daughter at school.
ADF to 11th Circuit: Protect parents' right to direct upbringing of their children
The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Vincent Wagner regarding a friend-of-the-court brief ADF attorneys filed Tuesday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Littlejohn v. School Board of Leon County supporting the right of parents to make decisions about how their children are raised:
“Parents have a fundamental right to direct the upbringing, care, and education of their children. Leon County Schools violated this right by using cross-gender pronouns and a different name for a student—a controversial psychotherapeutic intervention—against her parents’ express wishes. As we explain in our brief, the lower court did not recognize the long history and tradition supporting parents’ right to be informed about crucial mental health decisions like this for their children. Parents know their children best, and they shouldn’t be kept in the dark about their children’s wellbeing. We urge the 11th Circuit to reverse the lower court’s decision for its failure to respect parents’ constitutionally protected freedom to make the best decisions for their own kids.”
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.
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ABOUT Vincent Wagner
Vincent Wagner serves as senior counsel with the Center for Parental Rights at Alliance Defending Freedom where he safeguards parents’ rights to direct the upbringing, education, and care of their children. Before joining ADF in 2022, Wagner served the state of Arkansas as deputy solicitor general. Prior to his government service, Wagner was an associate with Baker Botts L.L.P. Wagner earned his B.A., summa cum laude, from Harding University and his J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. Immediately after law school, he clerked for then-Chief Judge Ed Carnes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Wagner is admitted to the state bars of Arkansas, Texas, and Virginia, the U.S. Supreme Court, and various lower federal courts.