EXCLUSIVE– Lawyers are demanding answers about alleged efforts by a Texas high school to repeatedly use a masculine name and male pronouns for a biological teenage girl, despite objections by parents.
Lawyers sent a letter to Texas’ largest school district after parents believed their daughter was secretly socially transitioned at school.
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a conservative legal advocacy group, sent a demand letter to Bellaire High School (BHS), which is part of the Houston Independent School District (HISD), on behalf of the student’s parents, asking for records from the school in accordance with Texas’ open records law.
In the fall of 2023, BHS employees began referring to the female student by a masculine name and male pronouns without her parents’ notification or consent, the ADF letter claims. The parents found out in December 2023 when they discovered a masculine name on their daughter’s schoolwork, in which they promptly told her teachers to stop using that name immediately.
In response, their daughters’ teachers told them that they would only refer to her by her legal name and female pronouns. But, despite teachers’ initial assurances, they discovered a few months later that school employees were again using the masculine name and male pronouns, according to the letter. The parents asked the high school employees, again, to stop, and they assured them that they would, but they allegedly still did not.
In September 2024, the student’s parents met with Bellaire’s principal, Michael Niggli, where they asked for confirmation that school employees would only refer to their daughter by her given name and female pronouns, according to the letter. But, the ADF says, Niggli told them they should consider a “middle ground” solution around what name she would be called at school.
Then, the parents followed up in writing, emailing Principal Niggli to clearly state that HISD employees should only refer to their daughter by her given name and female pronouns. He responded that “there will be no emails with directives to call [your daughter] by any particular name,” according to the letter. Principal Niggli also reportedly told the parents that a school counselor had communicated their instructions to teachers, but ADF claims that, because teachers have ignored similar instructions from them before, they are not confident that this is currently the case.
ADF is asking HISD to assure the student’s parents that its employees are following their instructions regarding their daughter. They are also asking for documents relating to HISD employees’ gender-identity-related use of preferred or chosen names or pronouns for students, including policy, practice, or guidance documents, or training presentations and associated documents. The letter’s deadline, set by ADF, is Friday, March 21.
Vincent Wagner, senior counsel with the Center for Parental Rights at Alliance Defending Freedom, told Fox News Digital that if answers aren’t provided and details aren’t clarified, it could result in legal action.
“If that’s not what happens, then we have to consider what else is on the table and that could be litigation,” he said. “It’s still up in the air what the next steps would be and that will depend on the specifics of HISD’s response.”
The story attracted attention after a representative for the parental action group, Moms for Liberty, spoke at an HISD school board meeting last month on behalf of the girl’s mother, who has chosen to remain anonymous.
“On the first day of ninth grade, my daughter’s theater teacher sent home an information sheet for us to fill out,” the Moms for Liberty representative read last month on behalf of the mom. “The second line of the sheet asked for her pronouns. Multiple teachers started calling her by a different name and pronouns. One teacher even went as far as to cross out my daughter’s legal name that she had written on her paper and write her chosen name in red ink.”
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“This occurred without our knowledge and certainly without our consent. This goes against our Christian faith, the advice of her therapist and, quite frankly, common sense. We met with her teachers, counselors and principal, to no avail. HISD is purposely and secretively transitioning minors…” she added, before her time was up and her mic was cut.
The public statement caught the attention of Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who said he instructed the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to open an investigation into the allegations.
“No parent should have to endure this. Another reason why parents deserve school choice. No school should be involved in ‘transitioning’ a child,” Abbott posted on X. “If this is not already illegal, it will be after this session.”
Wagner said ADF and the student’s parents are primarily seeking relevant documents that should be available under the Texas Public Information Act, which the parents have allegedly filed repeatedly.
Fox News Digital reached out to the school district for a request for comment.
“One responsive document showed that teachers were continuing to refer to their daughter by the masculine name even after our clients met with Principal Niggli,” the ADF letter reads. “So to understand exactly what HISD employees had been doing with their daughter, they sent a second public records request on January 3, 2025.”
“In response to that request, HISD initially said it had over 18,000 responsive documents,” the letter continued. “Then a month later, it responded that it had no responsive documents and closed the request. It never provided a single document responsive to that second request—or even any explanation for the discrepancy.”
Wagner said that a failure by HISD to comply with the Texas Public Information Act could lead to litigation about what the school district’s responsibilities are to parents.
“Given the pattern of failure and the existing ambiguity, we ask that HISD promptly assure us and our clients that HISD employees will refer to their daughter only by her given name and female pronouns,” the letter states. “Please also send us copies of all correspondence sent that instructs HISD employees on how they may address our client’s daughter.”
Wagner said ADF is also seeking clarification on HISD’s policy regarding transgender-identifying students, as well as any other guidance if there is no board-level policy.
“What practices does HISD follow in these sorts of situations, and also how are teachers trained to handle them?” he asked. “When you’re telling teachers a kid is struggling with gender and has questions, what are you telling teachers to do about that? What instructions are being given to teachers and other employees about handling situations like these?”
HISD serves over 189,000 students at 274 campuses and is one of the largest employers in Houston, with about 27,000 employees, according to HISD’s website.
