Furious parents Dan and Jennifer Mead are suing Rockford Public Schools in Michigan for using male pronouns for their 8th grade autistic daughter without their knowledge

Two outraged parents are suing a Michigan public school for using male pronouns for their eighth-grade autistic daughter without their knowledge.

Dan and Jennifer Mead filed a lawsuit against the Rockford Public School District on Monday after discovering that the school referred to their child by the pronouns “he/him” last year.

The lawsuit alleges that the school violated the parents' First and 14th Amendment rights by using a male name and pronouns for their child, as reported by NewsNation.

According to court documents, the school complied with its policy by using the student's chosen name and pronouns.

The Meads withdrew their child from the Rockford Public School District, where the child had attended since kindergarten and now homeschools their daughter.

The lawsuit against the Rockford Public School District alleges the school violated parents' First and 14th Amendment rights

“No one within the school district told them that the school district began treating her like a boy by calling her a male name and male pronouns,” Vincent Wagner, who is representing the parents, said. WOOD TV.

The lawsuit, filed Monday on behalf of the parents by the Alliance Defending Freedom, alleges that staff at East Rockford Middle School referred to their daughter by a male name and pronouns for at least two months.

The parents found out in October 2022 when a school psychologist accidentally included the child's male name in part of a report card sent home.

According to the lawsuit, the eighth-grader's name was changed back to his birth name in the rest of the document.

“At first, the Meads thought this was a mistake — that another child's information was included in their daughter's documents,” the Alliance Defending Freedom said in a statement.

“When the Meads asked district employees to refrain from using the male name and male pronouns, the district refused to comply with their wishes,” the lawsuit alleges.

“They couldn't help her during a difficult time in her life,” Wagner said. “So it stopped them from helping her and that took away their constitutional rights. Schools should not withhold this kind of information from parents.'

The lawsuit alleges that the school's policy violates parents' First Amendment rights to religious freedom and their 14th Amendment rights to parental rights.

The Meads are also seeking an unspecified amount of damages, saying homeschooling has caused the couple to lose income, as reported by the Washington Times.

“Homeschooling forced Mr. Mead out of the workforce, causing the Meads to lose his income,” the complaint said.

“This and other damage was caused by the district's actions in treating GM like a boy named FM while these actions were hidden from the Meads.”

“No one within the school district told them that the school district began treating her like a boy by calling her a male name and male pronouns,” said Vincent Wagner, the parents' attorney.

The parents found out in October 2022 when a school psychologist accidentally included the child's male name in part of a report sent home

The student, who was born female, began seeing a school counselor at East Rockford Middle School in 2020 and was recently diagnosed with autism.

Over the past two years, the Meads have placed “a lot of trust in the counselor and other district employees” and have communicated with them regularly.

However, when the child asked the counselor and other staff to refer to them by a male name and pronouns, the school refrained from sharing that information with the parents, the complaint said.

“Parents, not the government, have the right to direct their children's upbringing, education and health care,” said Kate Anderson, senior counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom.

“Schools should never intentionally hide vital information from parents, but that is exactly what the Rockford Public School District did,” Anderson added.

Alliance Defending Freedom said the child was undergoing “a social transition” by being referred to with male pronouns.

“When schools make it a policy to lie to parents, children get hurt,” the organization said in a statement.

Superintendent Steven Matthews told NewsNation that the district had not yet received the legal documents.

“We have therefore not read them in full, we respect the privacy of this family and therefore have no comment at this time,” he said in a statement.

“Our staff continues to support all students and their families as we work together to help our students learn and grow.”