The parents of an 11-year-old girl who was reportedly assigned to share a bed with a transgender student while on an overnight school trip are speaking out about the incident, saying they were not informed of the decision.
Serena and Joe Wailes spoke exclusively with “The Ingraham Angle” on Tuesday to discuss the action they are taking against Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS), commonly referred to as Jeffco, in Colorado after chaperones on the June trip allegedly told their daughter to “lie” about the reason why she wanted to switch rooms.
The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a Christian legal organization representing the family, said in a Dec. 5 press release that the Wailes’ daughter went on an overnight JCPS school-sponsored trip to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. and was supposed to be assigned to a room with three girls.
“They [the Wailes’] were assured in multiple parent meetings leading up to the trip that male and female students would be staying not only in different hotel rooms but also on completely different floors,” the ADF claimed.
The Wailes’ daughter, who is identified as “D.W.” in the press release, said she found out one of the students she was assigned to share a room with, “K.E.M.,” was transgender – a biological male who identifies as a female – because the student told her.
“D.W. was understandably uncomfortable with the idea of sharing a bed with a male student, so she snuck into the bathroom and quietly called her father and then her mother, who met her in the lobby of the hotel. Serena contacted a chaperone on the trip, who then contacted a trip leader,” the ADF explained.
“The chaperones asked D.W. if she could simply move to another bed rather than a new room, and while she was still uncomfortable, she agreed to try it for one night so that she could get some sleep.
But the chaperones, consistent with district policy, told D.W. to lie about the reason and say she needed to switch beds to be closer to the air conditioner.
Once the chaperone and D.W. were back in the hotel room, however, another roommate suggested that K.E.M. also switch to the bed closer to the air conditioner. D.W. was afraid to speak up in front of the other roommates on the contentious topic of gender identity, so she went into the hall and again told Serena she was uncomfortable.”
