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New York Attorney General Letitia James has been sued for allegedly threatening to remove school board members for discussing or even allowing students to talk about trans students in girls’ sports and locker rooms at school board meetings.
The alleged threats came in a “guidance letter” that warned of the removal of any school board member who used the incorrect pronoun for a trans person, or allowed students to speak publicly at school board meetings about their fears and discomfort with trans student-athletes wearing the wrong locker room for their biological sex.
A plaintiff in the lawsuit, Massapequa Union Free School District board president Kerry Wachter, alleged she was told James’ office ordered her to silence and fire any board speakers who expressed views opposing trans athletes in girls’ locker rooms and sports.
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A view of the marquee at Massapequa High School, in Massapequa, New York, on Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
“They are saying that if we allow this discussion in our board meetings, she can come in and remove us from the board,” Wachter told Pak Gazette Digital. “They want me to stop public comments and stop them from speaking.”
Wachter added that trans students were not directly named in any board meetings, and conversations were only based on the students’ feelings and concerns.
School board testimonies from female students and parents detailing the negative experiences of girls sharing spaces with biological males became increasingly common in 2024 and 2025, often in Democratic-controlled states. Images of those testimonies have often gone viral, prompting public scrutiny against the policies and lawmakers who have allowed such situations.
NAKED WOMEN SEEN AT MAINE SCHOOL BOARD MEETING PROTESTING TRANS ATHLETES IN GIRLS’ SPORTS, A GROWING TREND
The Massapequa Union Free School District has recently become an epicenter of the national debate over trans students in girls’ spaces after the school board enacted a policy in September ordering all students to use bathrooms and locker rooms based on their biological sex. The New York Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the district in response to the policy.
Wachter says he received guidance from James’ office in May of this year.
Southeastern Legal Foundation attorney Kim Hermann argued that James’ guidance did not apply to speakers expressing support for trans inclusion.
“They’re not saying you can’t talk about this issue, they’re saying no one can talk in favor of biological sex,” Hermann told Pak Gazette Digital. “If a transgender activist or an LGBTQ activist says ‘boys need to participate in girls’ sports, we need to have boys in girls’ locker rooms, these people are horrible,’ they can say whatever they want… but anyone who disagrees with them can no longer speak at these meetings.”
The lawsuit alleges that James’ office cited the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA), a New York state law that seeks to prevent harassment and bullying.
However, Hermann maintains that the law does not override the First Amendment or the rights of citizens to speak on issues at school board meetings.
“The First Amendment reigns here and so whether we have these state laws or not, a state can’t come in and just erase the First Amendment from the Constitution,” Hermann said. “Whether statements and discussions about transgender people and these different policies actually violate those state laws is absolutely irrelevant to what we are talking about in this lawsuit.
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“When they threaten to remove dually elected school board members for simply allowing public debate, that is a flagrant violation of the First Amendment.”
Pak Gazette Digital has reached out to James’ office for comment.
The other plaintiffs in the lawsuit include Danielle Ciampino, a member of the Rotterdam-Mohonasen Central School District Board of Education; Sarah Rouse, parent of Rockville Center Union Free School District students; and Issac Kuo, parent of Rockville Center Union Free School District students.
