Letitia James faces lawsuit for allegedly threatening school board members over debate against trans athletes

New York Attorney General Letitia James has been sued for allegedly threatening to remove school board members for discussing or even allowing students to discuss 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 uses the wrong pronoun for a trans person, or if they allow students to publicly speak out at school board meetings about their fears and discomfort with student trans athletes using the wrong locker room for their biological sex. 

A plaintiff in the suit, Massapequa Union Free School District Board Chair Kerry Wachter, alleged she was told that James' office instructed her to mute and dismiss any board meeting speaker that expressed views opposing trans athletes in girls' locker rooms and sports.

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"They're saying if we allow this discussion in our board meetings, she can come in and remove us from the board," Wachter told Fox News Digital. "They want me to stop public comment and stop them from speaking."

Wachter added that trans students were not being directly named in any board meetings, and conversations were only based around the feelings and concerns of female students.

A copy of James' letter obtained by Fox News Digital included the following statements: 

"Unfortunately, some board members have made, and encouraged, comments during board meetings that demean and stigmatize LGBTQ+ students. These comments have included attacks on school support for LGBTQ+ student groups and on transgender and gender-expansive students' rights to use facilities, including restrooms and locker rooms, or participate on school athletic teams consistent with their gender identity-rights that remain firmly embedded in state law."

It later added, "… board members that they may be removed from office when they willfully neglect their duty or violate legal protections for students in their districts… Under the First Amendment, school board meetings are considered limited public fora. This means that school boards that allow public comment "may make reasonable, viewpoint-neutral rules governing the content of speech allowed," including prohibiting all comments on a particular topic that would have discriminatory, harassing, or bullying effects …

"Removal of a board member is a drastic measure, but even an unsuccessful application for removal may pose a financial burden to schools and an unwelcome distraction from school boards' important work."

School board testimonies by female students and parents detailing the negative experiences of girls sharing spaces with biological males became increasingly common in 2024 and 2025, often in Democrat-controlled states. Footage of those testimonies has often gone viral, igniting public scrutiny against the policies and lawmakers that have allowed those situations. 

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The Massapequa Union Free School District has become a recent epicenter for the national debate over trans students in girls' spaces after the school board enacted a policy in September, ordering all students to use restrooms 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 claims she received the guidance from James' office in May of this year. 

Southeastern Legal Foundation Attorney Kim Hermann alleged that James' guidance did not apply to speakers who expressed support for trans inclusion. 

"They're not saying you can't talk about this topic, they're saying that nobody can speak out say in favor of biological sex," Hermann told Fox News Digital. "If a transgender activist or an LGBTQ activist and say 'boys need to be in girls' sports, we need to have boys in girls' locker rooms, these people are awful,' they can say anything they want… but anyone who disagrees with them can not speak at these meetings anymore."

The lawsuit alleges that James' office cited The Dignity for All Students Act (DASA), a state law in New York that seeks to prevent harassment and bullying. 

However, Hermann argues that law does not override the First Amendment and the rights of citizens to speak about issues at school board meetings. 

"The First Amendment here reigns true, and so whether or not you have these state laws, a state cannot come in and just erase the First Amendment out of the Constitution," Hermann said. "Whether or not statements and discussions about transgender and these different policies actually violate those state laws is absolutely irrelevant for what we're talking about in this lawsuit.

"When they're threatening the removal of dually-elected school board members for simply allowing public debate, that's a blatant violation of the First Amendment."

Fox News Digital 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, a mother of students in the Rockville Centre Union Free School District; and Issac Kuo, a father of students in the Rockville Centre Union Free School District. 

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