Colorado parents challenge district's policy of assigning rooms based on gender identity rather than sex.

The parents of students in a Colorado school district are filing a lawsuit against the school district over an alleged policy that required children to share rooms with students of the opposite sex, claiming it violates their rights.

On Thursday, Alliance Defending Freedom filed a lawsuit against Jefferson County Public Schools (JeffCo) on behalf of three Colorado families who allege that the policy keeps them in the dark.

In June 2023, Joe and Serena Wailes' 11-year-old daughter was forced to share her bed with a biological male who identified as a girl during an overnight trip. The Wailes' daughter discovered that one of her roommates was a biological male who identified as a female only when the student revealed it to her as they prepared for bed on the first night of the trip.

JeffCo policy mandates that students who identify as the opposite sex must "share overnight accommodations with other students who consistently assert their gender identity at school."

The policy states that no student who identifies as transgender shall be forced to share a room with students whose gender identity conflicts with their own.

The school district informs parents that "students with the same gender identity will be housed together on separate floors," but fails to mention that they have changed the definitions of "girl" and "boy" to refer to a student's self-identified "gender identity" instead of their biological sex.

The Wailes family submitted two letters to the school district requesting that JeffCo permit parents to exclude their children from any policy that accommodates students based on gender identity instead of sex prior to overnight trips. However, the school district allegedly rejected their request.

The Wailes' daughter was uncomfortable with sharing a bed with a male student, so she secretly called her parents from the bathroom. She was supposed to share a room with three fifth-grade girls.

According to ADF, the chaperones reportedly asked the Wailes' daughter if she could move to another bed instead of a new room, and although she was still uncomfortable, she agreed to try it for that night to get some sleep. Later, the chaperones on the trip allegedly instructed the Wailes' daughter to "lie" about the reason why she wanted to switch rooms.

The district failed to provide parents with "accurate, relevant information" regarding their children's overnight accommodations, impeding their ability to make informed decisions regarding their children's education and privacy.

Serena Wailes of Planet Chronicle Digital stated that schools should provide parents with full transparency regarding any information that affects their children.

Our daughter's situation has forced us to ask our school district to stop hiding information about our children's privacy and safety, and we never thought we would be in this position, but transparency and trust towards our school district are crucial.

She emphasized that every child deserves respect and privacy, but that respect and privacy should be extended equally to all students. As parents, it is our duty to make the best decisions for our children's well-being.

More parents have come forward with similar reports since the Wailes spoke out in December.

According to ADF, during a district-organized retreat at the "Outdoor Lab" for sixth-grade students, a transgender student was placed in a cabin with middle-school girls without the knowledge of their parents. Furthermore, a high school counselor who identifies as transgender was put in charge of a cabin of sixth-grade boys, including monitoring their showers.

In January, ADF sent a second letter to the district after new information emerged and more parents came forward. The school district has refused to provide accommodation for students attending trips like Outdoor Lab if they are uncomfortable with staying in the same room as students of the opposite biological sex, according to the suit.

Mallory Sleight, ADF legal counsel, stated to Planet Chronicle Digital that the Wailes and the other families involved in the lawsuit are only seeking what is best for their children's safety and comfort at school and on school trips.

"Jefferson County Public Schools is being sued for ignoring the concerns of parents and leaving children in the dark during school-sponsored trips."

In a December interview with Planet Chronicle Digital, Joe Wailes described feeling "powerless" in safeguarding his daughter from the circumstances.

""It was a helpless feeling when my daughter was hiding in the bathroom, trying to convey a message to me, and I was 2,000 miles away and couldn't do anything," he said."

Planet Chronicle Digital reached out to JeffCo for comment.

Planet Chronicle' Hannah Grossman contributed to this report.