Dan and Jennifer Mead
© Fox NewsDan and Jennifer Mead filed suit after they claim to have found out their middle school daughter had been socially transitioned without their knowledge or consent, altering her name and pronouns at school.
A mother and father sued a Michigan school district on Monday, alleging that school personnel encouraged their autistic daughter's gender transition without their consent.

Represented by religious liberty nonprofit Alliance Defending Freedom, Dan and Jennifer Mead filed a lawsuit against the Rockford Public School District after district employees allegedly began treating their child as a boy without their knowledge and, when confronted, tried to conceal the child's transition from them.

Shortly after the couple began working with administrators at East Rockford Middle School to address their daughter's academic struggles, she received an official autism diagnosis, the Meads told National Review. They didn't learn of their daughter's social transition until they received a performance update from a school psychologist that included a teacher assessment which used a male name and pronouns to refer to their daughter.

Prior to this point, the Meads felt like they had a very trusting, productive relationship with the school staff advising their daughter.

"We thought, 'this must be a mistake,'" Dan Mead said. When they contacted the school specifically, "there was absolute silence," he said.

They gave the school the benefit of the doubt, and asked whether another child's information had been pasted on their daughter's report by mistake.

But as they dug further into the situation, they began to realize the male name and pronouns were part of a broader effort to encourage their child's transition. That understanding was bolstered when Jennifer Mead found a queer graphic novel, Heartstopper Volume One: Hardback, in her daughter's backpack. The book, given to her daughter by the school counselor, included graphic scenes, including one in which a boy forces himself on another boy.

Now a freshman in high school, the Meads believe their daughter's transition process began in seventh grade, when teachers and administrators began using a male name and pronouns to refer to her. At one point, she even considered chest binding.

The Meads realized they needed to pull their daughter out of school immediately.

Confronting the principal, the Meads were told that the child's demands supersede parental rights under school policy.

The district psychologist, who oversees all the schools' counseling, changed their daughter's name on official records but made sure that any documents that went home had her real name and female pronouns in order to conceal her transition from her parents, the Meads allege.

Jennifer and Dan said they felt blindsided and betrayed by the school and district. The school counselor was almost like a friend to Jennifer. She had often expressed how she enjoyed working with her daughter, Jennifer said.

"I had what I thought was building a trust between us as parents and the school system to help our daughter succeed and help her wellbeing," Jennifer said. "I was disclosing intimate, private information with the school...They were letting the staff and teachers know so we could make the best decisions for our daughter. I really trusted them."

"I thought they were in our daughter's corner," she said. "I was shocked and I was hurt. This hurt our family and this hurt our child."

Asked for comment, the district replied: "We have no comment at this time because we have not been given official notice of this legal proceeding."