From today's opinion by Judge Michael Watson (S.D. Ohio) in Kaltenbach v. Hilliard City Schools (a notice of appeal has been filed):
… Plaintiffs allege that, if the District believes a parent holds anti-LGBTQ+ views, the District will not inform that parent if the parent's child shows any sign of an LGBTQ+ identity. The [District's] Policies allegedly work as follows: The District's "default" is that it will tell parents anything important about their children, including things related to LGBTQ+ issues. However, there is a "health and safety" exception to this default. Separately, the District labels people who do not support LGBTQ+ youth as "unsafe." Plaintiffs allege that when a parent is labelled "unsafe," the "health and safety" exception applies and, therefore, the parent will not be told important information. Thus, Plaintiffs allege, if a child reports that the child is struggling with LGBTQ+-related issues, and if that child's parent has been labelled "unsafe," that parent will never be informed about the child's struggles.
Plaintiffs allege that these fears came to pass for one Plaintiff, D.S. D.S.'s child, who was assigned female at birth, was struggling with mental health issues during eighth and ninth grade. At some point, employees at the child's school started using a male name and male pronouns to refer to the child, apparently believing that doing so would help with the child's mental health. D.S.'s child attempted suicide but, fortunately, survived and has received professional mental health care. No one at the school told D.S. that employees referred to the child with male pronouns, until after the suicide attempt. D.S. has since removed the child from the District. D.S. does not allege whether the District labelled her as "unsafe" or perceived her as having anti-LGBTQ+ views.
In addition, Plaintiffs allege that school employees may have exposed students to graphic sexual material. Some school employees wore a badge (the "Badge") that communicates that the wearer supports LGBTQ+ youth. On the back of the badge, there is a QR code that, if scanned, brings up resources and materials related to LGBTQ+ issues. At least some of these resources allegedly contain sexually explicit material….
