2-13-25 *INTERVIEW* Mallory Sleight Talks JeffCo Lawsuit Against Opp. Gender Shared Room Policy

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
There was an issue going on in Jefferson County public
schools where on school travel trips, if there were a
transgender kid going along. So let's say a kid who
is born male now identifying as female but biologically male,
the school district's policy was to have that person room

(00:23):
with girls, not just the same room necessarily, but sometimes
even the same bed. Some parents were pretty upset about it.
The school district didn't seem to want it back down,
and now there's a lawsuit joining us to talk about it.
Mallory Slate is legal counsel on the parental rights team

(00:43):
at the Alliance Defending Freedom ADF legal dot org. We
frequently have Alliance Defending Freedom guests on the show. Mallory,
welcome to Kowa.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
Thank you so much for having me on.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
So we just have about five minutes, so just jump
in and tell us what we need to know.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Perfect well. We represent four families. They're in Jefferson County,
who all have small children up through high school in
Jefferson County schools and are concerned that jeffco is not
giving parents all of the information they need. They are
rooming kids by gender identity, not by sex, but they're

(01:20):
not telling parents that they're telling parents girls room with
girls and boys room with boys, but they are not
telling anyone that they've redefined the words boy and girl
to mean whatever the child asserts they feel in that moment.
So we've had two different families who have have had

(01:40):
sent their children on JESSCO trips and without their knowledge,
had their childs placed in a room with a child
of the opposite sex. One was an eleven year old
girl placed in a bed with an eleven year old boy,
and another one was an eleven year old boy who
had an eighteen year old female counselor in his cabin
at outdoor lab. The problem is JEFFCO so far has

(02:04):
refused to provide equal and fair accommodations for parents who
are concerned about their religious beliefs being violated by this
policy or their children's privacy being violated by this policy,
and thus far, sadly, JEFFCO has been unwilling to accommodate
their requests.

Speaker 1 (02:23):
Okay, so let me get very specific with you here
on the remedy that you're seeking. Are you seeking to
prevent JEFFCO from allowing rooming setups based on gender identity
or are you seeking to require JEFFCO to properly inform

(02:48):
parents if that would be a potential on some trip
that their kid is going on, and allow the parents
to say no, that's not okay with me, and then
blah blah blah from there.

Speaker 2 (03:01):
That's a great question, and that's why we feel so
concerned that JEFFCO won't work with us, because we're only
asking for number one, inform parents about the policy, and
number two, if there are parents who, based on their
beliefs about privacy or religion, don't feel comfortable having their

(03:23):
children room with a child of the opposite sex, to
give them a fair and equal accommodation that still allows
full participation. So if other kids want to room by
gender identity and the parents of the other roommates are
fine with that, then that's completely fine. We're simply asking
for another option for the parents like our clients who

(03:46):
say this violates my religious beliefs.

Speaker 1 (03:49):
So I realized that this fight has been going on
with JEFFCO for a while and the Trump administration is
pretty new. But given the set angle on these sorts
of issues right now and the Trump administration's various moves
related to transgender this and that do you think that

(04:12):
there is any kind of federal subtle maybe or not subtle,
federal threat to Jeff CO if they don't do what
you ask, even if you personally are not suggesting a
federal threat.

Speaker 2 (04:27):
Well, what's interesting is in the past of you know,
we've been working on working with these clients now for
about a year and a half. We've tried sending letters,
we tried working with Jeff CO and then eventually had
to file the case because they wouldn't work with us.
And throughout this they have said that their policy and
the fact that they will not accommodate is based on

(04:48):
Title nine. And now we've got an executive order from
President Trump saying no Title nine means biological sect. So
that kind of removed that argument from JEFFCO. I think
that there's going to be more moved by the Trump
administration and the DOJ, but we don't know what those

(05:10):
are yet. But as of this moment, JESSO can't use
Title nine as a defense to say that they are
required to do what they're doing.

Speaker 1 (05:19):
So I ask you to just predict the future here
for a second. We only have a minute. Do you
think the change in federal policy on Title nine will
cause JEFFCO to try harder, to try at all to
reach an agreement with you. I don't know.

Speaker 2 (05:41):
I would love that. I would love to be able
to work with Jeffco. Our clients would love that. They
love their personal schools, they love the teachers. It's the
policy and the administration that so far has just been
completely unwilling to work with us and to accommodate these
parents and children. So I would love to have to

(06:02):
have Jeff CO say, you know what, we were happy
to work with you, but but so far they've been unwilling.

Speaker 1 (06:07):
To do that. All right, give me just literally a
fifteen second answer here. What's the next step.

Speaker 2 (06:13):
We have filed a motion for preliminary injunction and we
are now waiting on the briefing to be finished and
the judge rule of that. So hopefully we'll have a
ruling here shortly, all.

Speaker 1 (06:25):
Right, And when we do, I'll probably have you back.
Matorie Slate serves as legal counsel on the parental rights
team at Alliance Defending Freedom adflegal dot org. Thanks for
being here and thanks for this important work that you're doing.

Speaker 2 (06:40):
Thank you so much,