Tyson Langhofer, senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, says the law firm is representing Colt Black, a member of the Frederick County Board of Education, who criticized a gender identity policy at a Jan. 8 school board meeting.
For that supposed offense, Black is now the subject of a Title IX investigation by Frederick County schools but is being defended by ADF attorneys.
According to a related Daily Caller story, the school district’s investigation was launched after the Frederick County Democratic Central Committee, angered over Black’s comments, pressured the school board to punish him for “hate speech.”
The local Democrats also urged the community to submit complaints against Black, too, to pressure the school district to punish him.
Frederick County supported Kamala Harris for president over Donald Trump 52%-44%, but registered Democrats and office holders hold only a slight edge over registered Republicans and GOP office holders in local politics.
Black, a Republican, took office last December after publicly campaigning against the gender identify policy known as Policy 443. The policy’s purpose is to “prevent discrimination, stigmatization, harassment and bullying of students who are transgender or who are gender nonconforming.”
In a surprise to no one, Black criticized the policy at the January board meeting when the seven-member board discussed making revisions to it.
“I’m not sitting here saying that you can’t come to school and be who you are,” Black said at the meeting. “You should be able to do that. But at the same time, people should not have to be forced to participate with their language.”
From a sexual assault in Virginia to an anti-parent law in California, the issue of gender identity and transgenderism has ripped school districts apart going back several years.
The issue is also credited with helping Trump win election thanks to independent voters and women.
The irony of Frederick County schools alleging Black violated Title IX is ironic, too, since the Biden administration was redefining the federal Title IX to include transgenders only to be reversed by the new Trump administration.
After the local Democrats attacked Black for his comments, ADF has now fired off a letter to Frederick County schools warning the District IX investigation is an "unconstitutional retaliation" against its client.
Langhofer, the ADF attorney, says Black was exercising his First Amendment right by warning fellow school board members the policy violates the First Amendment rights of teachers and students.
For doing so, ADF says the Republican school board member is being censored for speaking out.
“And that's the exact opposite message we want public schools sending to our students,” the ADF attorney says. “We want them to be able to engage in robust debate about really important topics of today."
