Parents sue Anne Arundel schools, allege officials hid their child’s gender transition

Two parents, backed by a conservative nonprofit group, are suing Anne Arundel County Public Schools over the school system’s policies related to transgender children.

The suit, filed Wednesday in Maryland’s U.S. District Court, accuses staff at an unidentified county high school of lying to the parents — identified as John Doe and Jane Doe — about their child, identified as Mary Doe.

The Does allege the school “socially transitioned” their child without notice or their consent by referring to Mary Doe with a masculine name and pronouns.

Bob Mosier, a spokesperson for the school system, said officials were aware of the complaint but do not comment on litigation.

The lawsuit says a staff member at the school told the Does in December 2025 that they asked students what name they prefer to be called at the beginning of the semester, and that Mary Doe said they preferred a male name.

The Does say in the lawsuit that they demanded school staff begin using Mary Doe’s legal name, but they have been rebuffed. The lawsuit says the Does have sincerely-held religious beliefs that “God creates each person as male or female, that sex is based on biology rather than internal self-perception, and that sex cannot be altered.”

Anne Arundel County Public Schools has a policy that students have “the right to be addressed by a name and pronoun that correspond to the student’s gender identity.”

The suit asks for a temporary and permanent injunction that bar school officials from referring to Mary Doe by “anything other than her legal name” and for a declaration that the school systems’ policies surrounding transgender children and gender identity are illegal.

The suit was filed by an attorney with America First Legal Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 2021 by Stephen Miller, who is an influential advisor to President Donald Trump.

Recently, after a complaint by America First Legal, Montgomery County Public Schools adopted a policy that school officials must share a child’s gender identity with parents if they are asked.

Ian Prior, the attorney who filed the lawsuit, did not respond immediately to requests for comment.

The suit says the school system is in violation of the First and 14th amendments to the U.S. Constitution and the Maryland Constitution.

This is a developing story.