WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, America First Legal (AFL) filed a formal complaint with the Criminal Section of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Civil Rights Division, urging it to conduct a criminal investigation into the Deerfield Public Schools District and its administrators for forcing young female students to change their clothes in the presence of a male student who “identifies” as a female.
On March 5, 2025, during a Deerfield Public Schools District’s Board of Education meeting, a mother shared the traumatic experience of her 13-year-old daughter being forced to share a bathroom and locker room with a male student identifying as female.
In response to Deerfield Public Schools District’s policy allowing this boy to use the girls’ bathroom and locker room, a group of courageous teenage girls protested by refusing to dress out for physical education (PE) class.
Following the protest, school administrators met with the girls, admonished them, and threatened them with discipline for “misgendering” the boy and refusing to change for PE. Shockingly, the school administrators, including the superintendent of student services, and the assistant principal, entered the girls’ locker room and used their authority to intimidate the girls into changing in front of the boy.
Deerfield Public Schools District’s actions violate Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and President Trump’s Executive Order 14168, Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government. This egregious abuse of authority should be investigated as a crime. Instead of protecting these young girls, school administrators prioritized radical gender ideology over student safety and constitutional rights; their actions may violate federal criminal laws prohibiting threats and intimidation aimed at preventing the girls’ free exercise or enjoyment of constitutional rights and privileges.
AFL is proud to stand up and defend the right of women and girls across the country to have female-only restrooms and locker rooms — and will continue fighting to protect our nation’s children from the dangers of radical gender ideology.
Statement from Ian Prior, America First Legal Senior Counselor:
“The situation at Deerfield Public Schools has gone beyond a Title IX violation and has escalated to a situation that requires the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division to launch a criminal investigation. Students should not have their First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendment Rights sacrificed at the altar of radical transgender madness and the woke government bureaucrats that view the Constitution as nothing more than toilet paper should face the long arm of our Justice Department,” said Ian Prior.
Statement from Nicholas Barry, America First Legal Senior Counsel:
“These school administrators went too far. Trying to intimidate middle-school girls into changing in front of a boy to satisfy their insane gender ideology should not be tolerated. This is a form of sexual abuse. It is no wonder that a 2023 study found that 11.7 percent of the 6,632 participants experienced at least some form of educator sexual misconduct during grades K-12. The sexual abuse epidemic that is ongoing in public schools is not being stopped. That must stop now,” said Nicholas Barry.
Read the complaint here.
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Photo credits adobe stock: Valdan
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