A federal appeals court has ruled against a family that attended the State of the Union address as guests of President Trump. January Littilejohn of Tallahassee, Florida, appeared during the SOTU address, where the president recalled how her daughter’s school had allegedly socially transitioned her 13-year-old daughter without her consent. “A few years ago, January Littlejohn and her husband discovered that their daughter’s school had secretly socially transitioned their 13-year-old little girl. Teachers and administrators conspired to deceive January and her husband, while encouraging her daughter to use a new name and pronouns—‘they/them’ pronouns, actually—all without telling January, who is here tonight and is now a courageous advocate against this form of child abuse,” the President said.

Speaking to The Christan Post, Littlejohn recalled the ordeal, which began in 2020. “Our daughter fell prey to the lies of gender identity ideology and that she was born in the wrong body in May of 2020. And so this was shortly after three of her friends at our local middle school had also started suddenly identifying as some form of transgender,” she said. She said that she and her husband originally trusted the school- until the school began meeting with their daughter without informing them. “I thought what we were discussing was my child using a nickname,” said Littlejohn. “Two weeks later, my 13-year-old daughter got into the car and told me that she had a meeting at school, and they asked her which restroom she wanted to use.” Littlejohn contacted the school counselor, who informed her that she could not be given any information without her daughter’s consent. “They told me my daughter had to be the one to consent to giving me any information. So, you know, that’s really what propelled us down this pathway.” Littlejohn said the situation caused a “wedge” between she and her husband and daughter.

In 2021, Littlejohn and her husband filed a lawsuit against the Leon County School District. They are represented by Vernadette Broyles, with Child and Parental Rights Campaign, which currently has five federal lawsuits of similar situations. The school has stated that Florida, at the time of the incident, had no laws obligating them to inform parents. Florida has since enacted a law requiring parental notification. On March 12, the 11^th Circuit Court ruled against the Littlejohns 2-1. “The panel concluded that the Littlejohns failed to meet the ‘shock the conscience’ standard that the panel claimed was required to challenge violations of their parental rights by Leon County Schools,” the CPRC said in a statement. “CPRC strongly disagrees with this ruling and is actively reviewing options to ensure this decision does not stand unchallenged.”