A Colorado school district assigned an 11-year-old girl to share a bed with a biological boy who identifies as transgender, according to a demand letter from the girl’s parents.
Jefferson County Public Schools in the Denver area assigned the fifth grade girl to a room with three other students, two girls from her school and a boy from a different school, during a cross-country overnight trip in June to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., said the letter, first reported by The Daily Signal.
The 11-year-old was told she would share a bed with the trans-identifying boy. However, she became uncomfortable later that evening when the students were in their room together and the boy revealed he was actually a boy who identified as a girl. The young girl snuck into the bathroom and quietly called her mother, who had come on the trip but was not a chaperone. The girl and her mother asked the chaperones to move her to a different room, and initially, the chaperones tried to have her simply switch beds in the same room. However, the chaperones eventually agreed to move the boy to a different room, but “lied” to the other students about why, saying one of the girls needed more space, the letter states.
“An 11-year-old child was placed in a position where she feared social backlash if she requested a different room in front of other students,” states the December 4 letter from Kate Anderson, director of the Center for Parental Rights at Alliance Defending Freedom.
“This practice renders it impossible for these parents to make informed decisions about their children’s privacy, upbringing, and participation in school-sponsored programs,” the letter says.
The boy’s parents also allegedly told school officials their son was in “stealth mode,” meaning other students were not supposed to know he is a biological boy.
Now the girl’s parents, Joe and Serena Wailes, are demanding answers from the school district, saying they object to their daughter rooming with a child of the opposite sex.
The family is demanding the district clarify its policies around trans-identifying children and answer whether it will continue to “intentionally” withhold information about rooming accommodations from parents.
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The parents also said the district had assured parents repeatedly that boys and girls would be roomed on different floors during the trip. Chaperones even told the students that boys and girls would not be allowed to visit the floor of the opposite sex, they said.
“I felt a bit helpless,” the girl’s father said. “I was 2,000 miles away. My daughter is scared in a bathroom trying to get herself out of a situation. It was a frustrating experience, and I just really felt like it was not a situation my daughter should be put in.”
The trans-identifying boy’s “privacy and feelings were always the primary concern” of school employees, the demand letter alleges.
The Waileses also said in their letter that they have two fourth grade children who are registered for upcoming overnight school trips next year, and they want answers before then.