Teacher says she was told to deceive 'suspicious' parents about children's stated gender identities at school — now she's suing

A California public school teacher said she was told to deceive "suspicious" parents about their children's stated gender identities at school — and now she's suing.

What are the details?

"It's unfortunate that I have to go toe-to-toe and stand up against a community of people that I love," teacher Elizabeth Mirabelli told Fox News. "I've been there for 25 years. This is a community of people I care about, people I've served for a long period of time. And so that gives me pause to have to stand up, but I felt that I had to make that choice."

The cable network said attorneys for Mirabelli and fellow teacher Lori Ann West — both of whom taught for decades at Rincon Middle School in Escondido — filed a federal lawsuit last week against the school's leadership, claiming they were effectively required to lie to parents whose children assumed different gender identities at school.

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The lawsuit, which was also filed against administrators with the Escondido Union School District (EUSD) and the California State Board of Education, alleged that the K-8 school district's harassment and discrimination policies mandated teachers to accept a child's transgender or gender diverse identity without hesitation and to hide it from families.

The suit also claims they were instructed to use students' preferred names and pronouns in school, but to revert to their biological pronouns and given names when speaking with their parents. Teachers were told to tell "a suspicious parent" that they were allowed only to discuss "information regarding the student’s behavior as it relates to school, class rules, assignments, etc.," according to the suit.

According to a transcript of a Feb. 3, 2022 training presentation to EUSD staff about the "rights of gender diverse students" obtained by Fox News Digital, teachers were instructed that a student's "assertion is enough" to determine gender identity, and that failure to affirm it would constitute harassment. The training also claimed there is "no requirement for parent or caretaker agreement or even for knowledge for us to begin treating that student consistent with their gender identity."

Mirabelli added to the cable network that last year she "personally was faced with a dilemma" when several new students asked her to refer to them with different names and not to tell their parents.

While she was figuring out how to approach the situation, Mirabelli told Fox News she learned from the school counselor that students' names were being changed in official school records without parental knowledge or consent.

"How do educators know better than their own parents and families? Why are we taking over the welfare of these kids and decisions as personal as their given name?" Mirabelli asked, according to the cable network. "I just felt that was really overstepping as a teacher, as an educator. That's overstepping our role in their lives. And then we're not allowed to tell their parents? I thought it just doesn't seem right."

What's more, Mirabelli is Catholic and told Fox News the school's policies on the matter violate her faith and beliefs. She noted to the cable network that after requesting a religious accommodation she was given only a partial accommodation.

With that, Mirabelli told Fox News she sued on First Amendment grounds after the school allegedly denied her exemption request in regard to the policy excluding parents.

"I think we all know quite readily that lying is not something that you want to do, and it's certainly not something you want to teach to children," she added to the cable network. "If I'm telling a child, 'Yes, sweetheart, you can have a whole persona here at school, but we're not going to tell your parents,' what does that teach a child?"

What the did the school district have to say?

"The Escondido Union School District is committed to providing a safe and positive environment that enables our students to learn and actualize their unlimited potential and that empowers our teachers to excel as educators," EUSD Superintendent Dr. Luis A. Rankins-Ibarra told Fox News in a statement. "As part of that commitment to student learning, the district observes all federal and state laws."

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