HOUSTON (Alliance Defending Freedom) — Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed a federal lawsuit Monday on behalf of a Texas family after a Houston school district repeatedly flouted their requests to stop treating their daughter as a boy—a so-called “social transition.”
In March 2025, ADF attorneys sent a letter to the district on behalf of the Osborn family asking it to confirm that the couple’s daughter would only be referred to by her given name and correct pronouns, and ADF asked the district to provide documents related to the events that occurred. The school district did not provide any documents and ignored the Osborns request that they stop treating their daughter as a boy. The Osborns had no choice but to file a lawsuit against the district to stop them from continuing this action.
“Parents have the right to direct the upbringing, education, and health care of their children without fear of government interference,” said ADF Senior Counsel Kate Anderson, director of ADF’s Center for Parental Rights. “Schools should never hide vital information from parents, let alone go against their express instructions related to the well-being of their children. School officials should support parents, not replace them, and we are urging the court to make sure HISD updates its policy to respect these parents’ constitutional rights.”
READ: UN report calls on countries to ban ‘gender transitions’ for children
In December 2023, the Osborn family discovered a masculine name on their daughter’s schoolwork and learned that HISD employees had been treating her as a boy for several months. They instructed the employees to immediately stop. Although employees initially appeared to agree, the parents later learned that these employees had repeatedly ignored their instructions, consistent with district policy and practice. So, the Osborns approached the school principal in September 2024 about the situation. But that meeting did not resolve the issue either. The Osborns continued to find schoolwork that referred to their daughter as a boy.
The lawsuit explains that these actions were taken pursuant to official district policy. “The Osborns want to help their daughter in the way they think best,” the complaint states. “But the actions of HISD and its employees are preventing them from doing that. And HISD’s responses to the Osborns make clear that those actions will continue—unless this Court says enough is enough.”
ADF attorneys filed Osborn v. Houston Independent School District with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division.
Reprinted with permission from the Alliance Defending Freedom.
