Parents Speak Out: Colorado School District Forces Students to Share Overnight Rooms with Opposite Sex, Alleges ADF Demand Letter

Parents in a Colorado school district have come forward with claims that their children were forced to share overnight rooms and even showers with students of the opposite sex. The allegations were made by Christian parents Joe and Serena Wailes, who said that their 11-year-old daughter was made to share her bed with a biological male who identified as a girl during an overnight trip at Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) in December. Since the Wailes spoke out, more parents have come forward with similar reports.

According to Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a group of middle school girls on a science trip to the district’s Outdoor Lab retreat had a transgender student placed in their cabin without their parents’ knowledge. In addition, a high school counselor who identified as a boy was put in charge of a cabin of sixth grade boys. ADF sent a demand letter to JCPS in December, alleging that the district’s transgender policies were unconstitutional. A second letter was sent when more information came to light, expressing concern that the district had failed to state whether parents could opt their children out of any policy that rooms children by gender identity rather than sex.

ADF is calling on JCPS to allow parents to opt their children out of any policy prior to an overnight trip that rooms children by gender identity. Kate Anderson, senior counsel and director of the ADF Center for Parental Rights, emphasized that parents have the right to make informed decisions to protect their child’s privacy.

Joe Wailes described feeling “helpless” in protecting his daughter from the situation, as she found out she would be sharing a bed with a transgender student only after arriving on the trip. Serena Wailes, who was also on the trip, said it was frustrating because they had been told that boys and girls would be on separate floors of the hotel and not allowed to intermingle.

ADF’s demand letter alleged that it took multiple requests for the Wailes’ daughter to be moved to another room, and that chaperons instructed her to lie about the reason for her move. ADF has since been approached by other parents with similar concerns, including reports of sixth graders of the opposite sex being placed in the same cabin and even an 11-year-old being placed with an 18-year-old counselor of the opposite sex.

JCPS’s equity policies state that students who identify as the opposite sex should be assigned to share overnight accommodations with other students who share their gender identity consistently asserted at school. ADF believes this policy violates the religious beliefs of the Wailes family, as well as the parental and privacy rights of all parents and students in the district.

ADF has called on JCPS to inform parents of the policy and allow them to opt their children out before any overnight trip. The organization believes that when information is hidden from parents, everyone should be concerned. Fox News Digital has reached out to Jefferson County Public Schools for comment..