Several Colorado parents are suing their local school district after an overnight school trip allegedly tried to place a transgender-identifying male student in a hotel room and ultimately the same bed with an 11-year-old girl.

Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal organization that advocates for religious liberty, filed its opening brief Wednesday in Wailes v. Jefferson County Public Schools with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit on behalf of four families.

Joe and Serena Wailes sent their 11-year-old daughter on an overnight school trip. The parents were assured that boys and girls would not only be in separate rooms but even on separate floors of the hotel they were staying in.

That wasn’t true.

The Wailes’ daughter was assigned not only to share a room but to actually share a bed with a transgender student who is male. Now Mr. and Mrs. Wailes along with three other families are suing the Jefferson County Public Schools.

The lawsuit alleges that the district located near Denver allows male students to share overnight accommodations with girls based solely on gender identity without notifying parents or seeking their consent.

According to the complaint, the district’s policies violate parents’ fundamental right to make decisions about the upbringing and education of their children. The policies also place students in uncomfortable or potentially unsafe situations.

The room assignment came despite assurances from district officials that boys and girls would be placed on different hotel floors according to the lawsuit.

Jefferson County Public Schools’ policy however reportedly states that students may be assigned overnight accommodations based on gender identity.

This means the school district has an official written policy allowing boys who identify as girls to be placed in sleeping arrangements with female students. The policy apparently does not require notifying parents about these arrangements beforehand.

The case highlights a growing conflict between parental rights and school policies designed to accommodate transgender students. Many school districts across the country have adopted similar policies without informing parents or seeking their input.

Colorado has shifted significantly toward liberal politics in recent years. What locals call JeffCo was once more politically mixed but has moved increasingly blue along with much of the state.

The Wailes family and other parents suing represent those who find themselves at odds with the progressive direction their communities have taken. They are fighting back through the legal system to protect their children and assert their rights as parents.

An 11-year-old child is not capable of making informed decisions about gender identity or understanding the implications of such policies. The same applies to the male student involved who was presumably around the same age.

Children at this age are still looking forward to middle school. They should not be put in situations where they are forced to share beds with students of the opposite sex regardless of how those students identify.

The school district’s assurance that boys and girls would be on separate floors made the actual room assignment even more troubling. Parents specifically asked about sleeping arrangements and were given false information about the accommodations.

This deception prevented parents from making informed decisions about whether to allow their children to participate in the overnight trip. Had they known the true policy they might have kept their daughters home.

Alliance Defending Freedom taking the case demonstrates the seriousness of the legal issues involved. The organization has won major cases at the Supreme Court level and brings significant resources to the fight.

The appeal to the 10th Circuit Court represents an escalation of the legal battle. A ruling in favor of the parents could have implications for school districts throughout the region that have adopted similar policies.

The fundamental question is whether schools can override parental authority in making decisions about their children’s safety and comfort. These parents believed they were sending their daughter on a trip with appropriate accommodations and discovered that was not the case.

Jefferson County Public Schools has not responded to the lawsuit. The district’s written policy supporting gender identity-based room assignments suggests they will defend their practices in court.