America First Legal has filed a federal complaint against Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland, asking the Trump administration to investigate the district's gender identity policies.
The complaint, submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education, alleges the district's 2025-26 Gender Identity in Montgomery County Public Schools handbook violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments, as well as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
AFL says the policy allows students to socially transition at school, including using different names and pronouns, accessing bathrooms and locker rooms aligned with their gender identity, and making arrangements for overnight trips, while withholding that information from parents deemed not sufficiently supportive.
The group claims the policy violates federal law by directing staff to conceal information from parents, infringing on their access to educational records under FERPA.
It also alleges violations of the Free Exercise Clause, Free Speech Clause, Equal Protection Clause and Due Process Clause, stating parents are excluded from decisions about their children's upbringing and treated differently based on their views.
AFL cited the Supreme Court's decision in Mirabelli v. Bonta, which found parents challenging similar policies were likely to succeed on Free Exercise claims, noting such policies "cut out the primary protectors of children's best interests: their parents."
The organization is asking federal agencies to investigate the district, require it to rescind policies that withhold student information from parents, and restore full parental access to education records.
"Montgomery County Public Schools has constructed an elaborate system designed to keep parents in the dark about some of the most consequential decisions affecting their own children," said Ian Prior, senior counsel at America First Legal.
"Federal law and the Constitution are unambiguous: parents have the fundamental right to direct the upbringing of their children and to access their children's education records," Prior added. "MCPS's policies turn both of those principles on their head."
The complaint calls for the district to come into full compliance with federal law.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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