The Supreme Court rejected a couple’s appeal on Monday in a case seeking to limit trans students’ rights in schools. 

January and Jeffrey Littlejohn sued Florida’s Leon County School District in 2021 after claiming that school officials met with their child and created a support plan for trans/nonbinary students — in accordance with district policy — essentially “forcing” her child to be “a trans boy” without first consulting her. Littlejohn claimed that school officials discussed restrooms and name-change requests with their child without parental consent. 

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Anti-LGBTQ+ Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) invoked the Littlejohns’ story as inspiration for signing the state’s Don’t Say Gay Law in 2022. He said that “some people in the school had decided that the daughter was really a boy and not a girl, so they changed the girl’s name to a boy’s name, had her dress like a boy and on doing all this stuff, without telling the mother or getting consent from the mother.”

But public records contradict this version of events.

Emails that have been made public quite clearly show that January Littlejohn, in fact, asked the school to use they/them pronouns for their nonbinary child.

“This has been an incredibly difficult situation for our family and her father and I are trying to be as supportive as we can,” she wrote in an email obtained by CNN. “She is currently identifying as non-binary. She would like to go by the new name [redacted] and prefers the pronouns they/them. We have not changed her name at home yet, but I told her if she wants to go by the name [redacted] with her teachers, I won’t stop her.”

The teacher asked if she could share the email with other teachers.

In a later email, Littlejohn wrote: “Whatever you think is best or [redacted] can handle it herself.”

“This gender situation has thrown us for a loop. I sincerely appreciate your support. I’m going to let her take the lead on this,” she wrote in another email from the same day.

The Supreme Court’s rejection of the appeal means the 11th Circuit’s decision siding with the school district stands.

The school celebrated in a statement to the Tallahassee Democrat, but also lamented how much time and money the Littlejohns have wasted. 

“For more than five years, the Littlejohns, their team of attorneys, along with the Governor and Attorney General, have publicly criticized our school district with fictitious claims that have not been upheld by any court at any level —including now the Supreme Court of the United States,” said Superintendent Rock Hanna.

“While I’m confident the facts have ultimately been affirmed, it is disappointing that this prolonged frivolous case, and the attention it generated, has come at a cost to the reputation of our school district and more than $200,000 in legal fees.” Still, Hanna added, “At the end of the day, the good guys win, and truth prevails.”

A statement from the Littlejohns vowed to continue advocating for so-called parents’ rights. “Our case helped shine a national light on serious parental rights violations, and we are grateful that Florida took swift legislative steps to better protect families,” they said. “Unfortunately, families across the country are still being harmed by policies that allow the secret social transition of children in schools.”

“Our work is far from over — we will continue using our experience to advocate for families and for policies that respect the fundamental role of parents as the primary decision-makers in their children’s lives.”  

Forced outing, policies, however, can be dangerous for students who do not live with affirming parents or guardians – or even for students who simply aren’t ready to come out to family. A 2024 study from the University of Connecticut found that a third of youth who were forcibly outed had a greater likelihood of experiencing major depression as well as low family support. Additionally, more than 65% of youth said being forcibly outed was “highly stressful.”