Conservative legal group files complaint against MCPS gender identity guidelines
Move marks second challenge since 2020
By
Ashlyn CampbellApril 16, 2026 10:26 a.m.
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Make a ContributionA conservative legal group filed a complaint April 7 against Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) with the U.S. justice and education departments, arguing that district guidelines regarding student gender identity violate the Constitution and student privacy laws, according to the group.
MCPS “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 in a press release, senior counsel at America First Legal, a conservative legal group co-founded by Stephen Miller, a political adviser and staffer for President Donald Trump.
According to the complaint posted on the legal group’s website, America First Legal is arguing that MCPS violates the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and the free speech clause of the First Amendment by withholding “gender identity and gender transition” information from parents. American First Legal also argues that the district’s guidelines violate due process.
The guideline handbook on gender identity from the district for the 2025-2026 school year, outlines that students have a right to privacy, including the right to keep their gender identities private. The handbook notes that disclosing information such as a student’s transgender status may violate privacy laws.
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“Prior to contacting a student’s parent/guardian, the principal or identified staff member should speak with the student to ascertain the level of support the student either receives or anticipates receiving from home,” the document said. “In some cases, transgender and gender nonconforming students may not openly express their gender identity at home because of safety concerns or lack of acceptance.”
The document also notes that unless the student or parent has specified otherwise, MCPS staff members should use the student’s legal name and pronoun that corresponds to the student’s assigned sex at birth when communicating with parents.
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, parental rejection can increase risks for using illegal drugs, high levels of depression and suicidality for transgender and gender non-conforming youth. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, LGBTQ+ youth face disproportionate rates of homelessness, with family rejection due to sexual orientation and gender identity being the most frequently named reason for homelessness.
The America First Legal complaint is calling for an investigation into the MCPS guidelines and requests that the Department of Education require the district to rescind them.
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MCPS spokesperson Liliana López said in a Wednesday afternoon statement that the district was aware of the complaint.
“Our district’s handbooks and guidelines undergo review at least once a year to ensure they are current and effective,” López said. “We remain committed to supporting all students while ensuring our policies fully comply with the law.”
This is at least the complaint about the district’s gender guidelines, after a lawsuit concerning a similar complaint was struck down in 2023.
The first challenge came when the parents of two MCPS students filed a lawsuit in 2020, alleging the school district’s gender identity guidelines violated federal laws such as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act – the same law cited by America First Legal in its complaint.
In August 2022, U.S. District Court Judge Paul Grimm dismissed that case, saying the MCPS guidelines “carefully balance the interests of both the parents and students, encouraging parental input when the student consents, but avoiding it when the student expresses concern that parents would not be supportive, or that disclosing their gender identity to their parents may put them in harm’s way.”
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In 2023, a panel of three judges in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit dismissed an appeal by the parents for a lack of standing in a 2-1 vote.
The complaint also comes on the heels of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June that MCPS must inform students and families about the planned use of books that contain gay characters in classes and allow them to opt out.
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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine