The Department of Justice has opened a civil rights investigation into the Los Angeles Unified School District over a policy that directed teachers to hide students’ “gender identity” from their parents — a policy critics say drove a teenage boy to his death.
Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for civil rights, confirmed the probe Thursday in a statement that did not mince words.
“These woke policies don’t just defy science, eviscerate constitutionally-protected rights — they put girls at risk of physical violence and sexual assault,” Dhillon said. “This Justice Department WILL NOT STAND FOR IT!”
The investigation centers on a 2019 LAUSD policy that instructs school staff to avoid disclosing a student’s “gender identity or expression” to parents without the student’s consent. The policy leaves the call to staff based on the student’s “safety, health and well-being” — giving educators authority to override parental knowledge about their own child.
That’s exactly what happened to Kathleen Mulligan and her son Dylan Parke.
Parke was a sophomore at Palisades Charter High School in 2019-2020 when he told school staff he wanted to use she/her pronouns and go by the name “Aria.” Staff complied — and said nothing to his parents. When Mulligan reached out to the school asking what was going on with her son, educators ignored her message and “further denied them the opportunity to participate in the care of their minor son,” the family’s lawsuit against the district alleged.
The secrecy fractured the family. Parke died by suicide in March 2024 at the age of 19.
The family filed suit against LAUSD earlier this year. The DOJ investigation, reported Thursday by the New York Times, follows a separate complaint from a female student who alleged the district ignored her warnings about a perpetrator.
The investigation is part of a broader push by the Trump administration to restore parental rights in public education. The administration has moved to cut federal funding for transgender medical procedures, and the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year temporarily blocked California rules that restrict when schools must notify parents about a child’s gender status.
California has defended policies like LAUSD’s in court and in the legislature, arguing they protect students from unsupportive home environments. Parental rights advocates say the policies shield schools from accountability while cutting families out of decisions that can have life-or-death consequences.
