Portland Public Schools rescinds campus ban on mother who questioned gender curriculum

Portland Public Schools in the US state of Oregon has rescinded its trespass order against a mother who had been barred from campus over her opposition to the district's gender curriculum, according to the legal group representing the parent, Allison Roberts.

Roberts sued Portland Public Schools in August after she expressed concern last year over Meriwether Lewis Elementary School's decision to repaint its traditional rainbow pride flag into an Intersex-Inclusive Progress variant, intended to include support for racial inclusion and transgender rights.

Roberts also discovered an 'identity flower' assignment given to her 11-year-old child that asked students to identify and discuss their gender identity with classmates and teachers.

After receiving what she described as an unsatisfactory response from the school, Roberts wrote an open letter to the community criticizing the school's policies, which she distributed on a public sidewalk outside school property.

The school later accused Roberts of harassment, intimidation and threatening behaviour as part of a pattern of animus and harassment targeting vulnerable members of the community. The district issued her a one-year trespass order barring her from attending school events, including her child's graduation ceremony.

According to the Liberty Justice Center, which represented Roberts, Portland Public Schools agreed to several concessions before a scheduled hearing on her motion for a preliminary injunction. These included rescinding her campus ban, exempting her children from certain LGBTQ-related curriculum requirements, and reviewing its nondiscrimination and anti-harassment policy.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Portland Public Schools confirmed that the district agreed to rescind the trespass notice in mid-November. The district's statement said Portland Public Schools has and will continue to comply with all laws that serve and protect children.

Timothy Snowball, lead attorney for the Liberty Justice Center's PARENTS Initiative, called the concessions a victory. He said the timing of the settlement was not a coincidence: only two days before negotiations started, the district had been set on fighting Roberts, but after a federal judge spent an hour or two explaining why their conduct was unconstitutional, they immediately changed their plans.

Another hearing on the district's policies is scheduled for 1 December, focusing on policies Snowball said allow teachers to withhold information from parents. In a separate statement, Snowball said Portland Public Schools tried to silence a mother who dared to question what was happening in her children's school, and that the district had now agreed to withdraw its warning, rescind its campus ban and recognize her right to speak freely. He said the fight was not over, because the district continues to defend policies that allow school officials, under certain circumstances, to withhold important information from parents about their own children.

Roberts previously said she had received widespread support for her legal efforts. She said the outpouring of support from her local Portland community and from parents and grandparents across the country had been heartening, that she never wanted things to reach this point, but that knowing she was fighting not just for her family but for millions of American families reassured her that bringing the suit was the right thing to do.