Following ADF lawsuit, Houston school district respects parents’ wishes concerning daughter

(ZENIT News / Houston, 12.15.2025).- Six months after Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys sued the Houston Independent School District, officials agreed to respect parents’ wishes concerning their young daughter. District officials had repeatedly flouted Sarah and Terry Osborn’s requests to stop treating their daughter as a boy—a so-called “social transition.”

As part of the settlement, HISD agreed that district employees would address the Osborns’ daughter only by her given name and by female pronouns.

“Parents have the right to direct the upbringing, education, and health care of their children without fear of government interference,” said ADF Senior Counsel Kate Anderson, director of ADF’s Center for Parental Rights. “Schools should never hide vital information from parents, let alone go against their express instructions related to the well-being of their children. School officials should support parents, not replace them. In this case, we’re pleased HISD agreed to honor the Osborns’ wishes and respect parents’ constitutional rights.”

In December 2023, the Osborn family discovered a masculine name on their daughter’s schoolwork and learned that HISD employees had been treating her as a boy for several months. They instructed the employees to immediately stop. Although employees initially appeared to agree, the parents later learned that these employees had repeatedly ignored their instructions, consistent with district policy and practice.

So, the Osborns approached the school principal in September 2024 about the situation. But that meeting did not resolve the issue either. The Osborns continued to find schoolwork that referred to their daughter as a boy.

In March 2025, ADF attorneys sent a letter to the district on behalf of the Osborn family asking it to confirm that the couple’s daughter would only be referred to by her given name and correct pronouns, and ADF asked the district to provide documents related to the events that occurred. The school district did not provide any documents and ignored the Osborns’ request that they stop treating their daughter as a boy. The Osborns had no choice but to file a lawsuit in June of this year against the district to stop them from continuing this action.

But in light of the settlement agreement, ADF attorneys filed a joint stipulation of dismissal Friday in Osborn v. Houston Independent School District, bringing a favorable end to this lawsuit on behalf of the Osborn family.

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