A federal appeals court has ruled against two Florida parents who allege a school district aided their child鈥檚 鈥渟ecret鈥� gender transition in a case highlighted by President Donald Trump in his address to Congress last week.
A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, in Atlanta, ruled 2-1 on March 12 that January and Jeffrey Littlejohn could not prevail on their parental-rights claim under the 14th Amendment鈥檚 due-process clause because school officials鈥� actions did not 鈥渟hock the conscience.鈥�
The story of the Littlejohns and their child, who was assigned female at birth and sought to transition at age 13 in 2020 at their Tallahassee, Fla., middle school, has been a conservative cause for years, and was even cited by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in his successful effort to enact a law limiting what schools could teach and speak about sexual orientation and gender identity.
On March 6, January Littlejohn was in the VIP guest gallery of the House sitting near first lady Melania Trump when President Trump mentioned the family in his .
鈥淎 few years ago, January Littlejohn and her husband discovered that their daughter鈥檚 school had secretly socially transitioned their 13-year-old little girl,鈥� Trump said. 鈥淭eachers and administrators conspired to deceive January and her husband, while encouraging her daughter to use a new name and pronouns鈥斺�榯hey/them鈥� pronouns, actually鈥攁ll without telling January, who is here tonight and is now a courageous advocate against this form of child abuse. January, thank you.鈥�
Trump added that 鈥渟tories like this are why, shortly after taking office, I signed an executive order banning public schools from indoctrinating our children with transgender ideology.鈥�
Despite the president鈥檚 recent executive order, the 11th circuit decision is the second by a federal appeals court in a month to side with a school district over parents in a gender-transition case. On Feb. 18, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit, in Boston, also rejected a parental rights challenge to a school district鈥檚 policy.
Majority said school officials were trying to help the gender-transitioning child
Fact checkers have noted that the , after a public-records request, showing that January Littlejohn appeared supportive of her child鈥檚 gender transition.
But the Littlejohns鈥� court papers in their suit against the Leon County school district, which includes Tallahassee, have referred to the school鈥檚 actions as aiding a 鈥渟ecret鈥� transition. The parents say they informed teachers and administrators at their child鈥檚 middle school they did not allow the child to use a preferred name and 鈥渢hey/them鈥� pronouns.
The school relied on a district guide for dealing with student gender transitions, and they developed a student support plan for the student identified in court papers as J., without including the parents in meetings because their child had not requested their attendance.
The district鈥檚 equity officer emailed the Littlejohns to say, 鈥淲e currently do not have any Florida specific law that obligates us to inform the parents or says we cannot listen to the student without their parent present.鈥�
The school district amended its guidelines to generally require parental notification after Florida in 2021 passed the Parents鈥� Bill of Rights, also known as the 鈥淒on鈥檛 Say Gay鈥� law.
A federal district court dismissed the Littlejohns鈥� lawsuit. In its March 12 decision in , the 11th Circuit court panel agreed with the district court that the school district鈥檚 actions did not meet a 鈥渟hock-the-conscience鈥� standard set by various U.S. Supreme Court precedents.
鈥淒efendants did not act with intent to injure,鈥� said the majority opinion by Judge Robin S. Rosenbaum, an appointee of President Barack Obama. 鈥淭o the contrary, they sought to help the child.鈥�
Dissent says parents deserve their day in court
The court did not address the emails that purportedly showed January Littlejohn to be at least initially supportive of her child鈥檚 transition. That is likely because of the procedural posture of the case, in which the court was required to accept the parents鈥� factual narrative.
Judge Kevin C. Newsom, a first-term Trump appointee, concurred but wrote that the defendants鈥� actions of 鈥渉iding from the Littlejohns the fact that their 13-year-old daughter had expressed a desire to identify as a boy at school 鈥� was shameful.鈥�
But 鈥渏udges aren鈥檛 just politicians in robes,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd they don鈥檛 (or certainly shouldn鈥檛) just vote their personal preferences.鈥�
Senior Judge Gerald Bard Tjoflat, an appointee of President Gerald R. Ford, said in his dissent that Supreme Court precedent does not 鈥渄eprive citizens of the right to be heard in cases brought against state or local governmental executives for the violation of fundamental rights鈥� and that the Littlejohns 鈥渁re entitled to a day in court on the merits of their claims.鈥�
