A father in Washington state is suing the Lake Washington School District for ignoring multiple opt-out requests and subjecting his son to LGBTQ+ indoctrination and requirements that conflict with the father’s religious beliefs and constitutional right to raise his child.
The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) filed a federal lawsuit against the Lake Washington School District on the father’s behalf Tuesday, citing Supreme Court precedent and alleging three constitutional violations based on the First and Fourteenth Amendments:
- COUNT I Free Exercise of Religion (U.S. Const. amends. I, XIV; 42 U.S.C. § 1983)
- COUNT II Fundamental Right to Direct Child’s Upbringing and Education (U.S. Const. amend. XIV; 42 U.S.C. § 1983)
- COUNT III Deprivation of Liberty Without Due Process of Law (U.S. Const. amend. XIV; 42 U.S.C. § 1983)
At issue is the school district’s LGBTQ “inclusive curricula” and requirements (such as compelled anti-biological pronoun use and gender identity-based bathroom use) that conflict with the father’s Christian faith.
The father, Konstantin Averkiev, met with a teacher before the start of the school year to opt-out his son from LGBTQ and gender transition lessons and counseling. The teacher allegedly agreed to honor Averkiev’s constitutional opt-out right.
When the school then ignored his opt-out request and, without pre-notification, subjected his son to instruction on changing genders, same-sex romantic attraction and mandatory, anti-biology pronoun use, ADF and Averkiev emailed the school’s principal, Heidi Gilmore, again invoking the father’s constitutional rights. Principal Gilmore did not reply.
When ADF followed up with a more formal legal letter, the school responded by denying all of the LGBTQ-related opt-out requests, prompting Tuesday’s lawsuit.
“Parents have the fundamental right to direct their children’s religious upbringing and education, even at school,” ADF Senior Counsel Kate Anderson explained in a statement announcing the lawsuit:
“Washington state officials can’t force parents like Mr. Averkiev to give up that right or accept a burden on their children’s religious upbringing in exchange for the benefit of public education.
“Our Constitution forbids schools from indoctrinating children with the government’s views on sexuality and gender—hotly debated and sensitive topics—that substantially undermine their religious upbringing.”
The complaint concludes by requesting the court to grant injunctive and financial remedies to address the school district’s constitutional violations:
“Mr. Averkiev seeks a preliminary and permanent injunction opting his son out of LGBTQ+ lessons and requirements at school. This would include protecting his son from compelled pronoun use, preventing the District from assigning his son to share intimate spaces with the opposite sex, and prohibiting District staff from instructing or initiating one-on-one discussions with his son on LGBTQ+ topics.
“Mr. Averkiev also seeks nominal and compensatory damages for Defendants’ violations of his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights under the District’s no-opt-out policy.”
