Hilliard City Schools filed a motion last week asking a federal judge to dismiss an anti-LGBTQ+ lawsuit brought against the district by eight parents earlier this month.
In the filing, Jessica Philemond, a Columbus attorney specializing in representing school districts, argued that the parents lawsuit was “riddled with careless mistakes” that would lead any judge to dismiss the case outright.
“The (parents’) complaint consists of thread-bare assertions, innuendo, rumor, and spurious legal conclusions,” the school district argued.
Central to the parents’ complaint is their accusation that the school district in Hilliard – a suburb of Columbus – refuses to clarify its policy on outing: the practice of automatically sharing information with parents regarding sexual orientation, gender identity, name-changes, and pronouns being used, should the students share this information with school staff. The parents argued for mandatory and automatic outing.
The parents’ lawsuit also seeks to ban district teachers from wearing badges with the words, “I’m Here” and a Pride flag on the front, which caused controversy when they were discussed at a school board meeting in September. The back of the badge – not facing outwards – contains a list of LGBTQ+ resources for the teachers, one of which the parents say linked to “pornographic material.”
The school district’s response argued that the parents did not have standing to sue in the first place because they had not been harmed.
“Plaintiffs have not sued an entity capable of being sued,” the district stated. “It is clearly established under the law that, in order to sue a school district, one must do so by suing the board of education.”
Of note, the lawsuit specifically cites the Ohio State Board of Education’s anti-LGBTQ+ resolution passed in December as helping to inform their stance.
This lawsuit follows the November suit by a group of parents challenging the Bethel Local School District’s decision to allow transgender students to use communal restrooms consistent with their gender identity.
This article was republished from The Buckeye Flame, a platform dedicated to amplifying the voices of LGBTQ+ Ohioans to support community and civic empowerment through the creation of engaging content that chronicles their triumphs, struggles, and lived experiences. For more LGBTQ+ news, visit thebuckeyeflame.com.