Twenty-two GOP-led states have filed an amicus brief in support of a New Jersey father who sued his daughter’s school for “transitioning” her without telling him.
The father, Christian Heaps, sued Delaware Valley Regional High School last year after his daughter told her school counselor that she preferred to be referred to by a male name and with male pronouns.
The counselor, identified as Ashley Miranda, “immediately affirmed” his daughter’s new identity “and began to facilitate [her] social transition,” according to the lawsuit.
Furthermore, Miranda allegedly schemed to hide his daughter’s new identity from him by only referring to her by her new pronouns and name only when he wasn’t around.
This was in line with the Democrat state’s Policy 5756:
New Jersey Department of Education K-12 guidelines state students can officially change their name and gender on school records without their parents’ consent.
Why? pic.twitter.com/HiTYhztypw
— Mythinformed (@MythinformedMKE) March 25, 2022
“Thereafter, when communicating with [Heaps] about his daughter, and before [he] eventually learned of the social transition of his daughter at DVRHS, the school always uses [his daughter’s] given female name, which was done for the purpose of concealing [her] social transition at DVRHS, thus demonstrating a knowing interference with Mr. Doe’s rights,” the lawsuit states.
Heaps eventually learned of the transition by happenstance “when another parent called [his daughter] by a boy’s name in his presence. ”
When he “inquired” as to why the other parent was referring to his daughter as a boy, the parent explained that she “was being called by such name at school since she was being socially transitioned.”
Heaps immediately pulled his daughter out of school and “placed [her] on” the school district’s online home-instruction program.
He then confronted school officials, including Miranda, about the transition, only for them to double down on the transgender madness.
“The District advised that it would continue to have [his daughter] called by a male name until such time as [she] indicated otherwise,” according to the lawsuit.
They defended their decision by citing Policy 5756.
Heaps eventually sued in hopes of striking down this policy. He’s backed by the Alliance Defending Freedom, as well as 22 GOP-led states: Montana, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Multi-state coalition says the school’s secret social transitioning policy wasn’t about “promoting acceptance”
It was “a cover” to keep the father’s child “in its clutches”
See @LegInsurrection pic.twitter.com/9eHw4DoFQs
— Jane Coleman (@JaneBColeman) July 24, 2025
“[T]he school district decided that it knew better than Jane’s father and healthcare providers when it secretly began calling Jane a masculine name,” an amicus brief filed by the states reads. “Doing so not only deepened Jane’s distress, it denied Mr. Heaps the right to direct Jane’s upbringing.”
“It also denied Mr. Heaps’ due process rights by first withholding information about his daughters social transition at school, and then deliberately persisting in the transition after Mr. Heaps had demanded an end to it. The district’s actions are not justified because Jane requested the use of the name and pronouns or because it thought Mr. Heaps wasn’t supportive enough of Jane’s gender transition. Nor are they justified by the number of school districts across the nation that have adopted similar policies,” the brief continues.
In other words, right is right, wrong is wrong, and what was done to Heaps’ daughter was extremely wrong.
“Parents have the right to direct the upbringing, education, and health care of their children without fear of government interference,” ADF senior counsel Kate Anderson said in a statement.
“Schools should never hide vital information from parents, let alone go against their express instructions related to the well-being of their children. School officials should support parents, not replace them, and we are urging the court to uphold these constitutional rights,” she added.
New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Mario M. Kranjac, an “America First” Republican, has vowed to eliminate Policy 5756 if he wins election in November:
As Governor, I’ll do the same thing with our local school districts:
❌ No DEI
❌ No girls in boys sports
❌ No porn in school libraries
❌ No Policy 5756It’s time to reunite parents with students.
If districts do not comply, all state aid will be revoked! pic.twitter.com/OVLUbDHq3f
— Mario M. Kranjac (@MarioKranjac) February 15, 2025
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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