A Chicago law firm is threatening to sue the Wake County Public School System if it won’t allow parents to opt their children out of a required music class taught by a transgender teacher — and to refrain from punishing students for using the teacher's preferred pronouns. It also wants the district to make assurances that the teacher won't be allowed to share space with students in restrooms or locker rooms.

They were among the demands in a letter the firm sent this week to the district over the teacher, who has been the target of some parents at a southern Wake elementary school. 

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The Thomas More Society, a nonprofit law firm focused on issues that appeal to conservatives, says it is representing a group of parents at the school. It said in the letter that it would sue if the county doesn’t receive written assurances to meet their demands within 15 days of the Sept. 15 letter.

The group also demanded that the district make assurances that gender identity and sexuality won't be discussed at the school by any faculty or staff, except as permitted by state law, without parental notice and the ability for parents to opt out.

The school system didn't immediately respond to a WRAL News request for comment.

The district has said its policies on hiring and employment include nondiscrimination clauses for gender identity. The school board changed that policy years ago in response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said employees are protected against discrimination over their gender identity.

Parents at the Wake elementary school, where the teacher was hired earlier this year, previously requested a way to opt out of the music class taught by the teacher, who is a transgender woman, but haven’t been granted those requests. It's a weekly class, and many parents who object to their children having a transgender teacher have been picking their children up from school instead of allowing their children to attend the class.

Other parents have contended the issue is overblown and that no complaints have been lodged against the teacher for their actual teaching.

The Thomas More Society bills itself as a defender of “the cherished rights of defending life, family and freedom.” 

It was unclear Wednesday if many of its demands are tied to actual events or are happening in practice. Some of its demands are already required by state law. Others aren’t covered by law or policy.  

For instance, schools typically have staff bathrooms for employees to use separately from students, and elementary schools typically don't have locker rooms.

State law already bars instruction of gender identity and sexuality in kindergarten through fourth grades but allows teachers to respond to students' questions about those things.

Religious opt-out policies in Wake and school districts nationwide often allow students to opt out of certain lessons or reading material that conflict with their religious beliefs and allow those students to receive alternative assignments. Education analysts have told WRAL News that those policies don't contemplate opting out of an entire class because of a religious objection to the teacher's gender identity.

The Thomas More Society letter contends recent court precedent requires such opt-outs, however. One case cited by the organization, Mirabelli v. Bonta, is related to whether California schools could out a transgender student without their consent or withhold that information from their parents. 

That case is ongoing, but a U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this year said the parents were likely to succeed in their claims. The other case, Mahmoud v. Taylor, was decided in 2025 by the U.S. Supreme Court, siding with parents who wanted to opt their children out of reading instruction when LGBTQ-themed books were used. 

The letter the group sent to Wake officials contends the rulings can be applied to classroom features that could interfere with a parent's right to direct their children's religious upbringing.

When asked previously about whether families can opt out of a class because of a religious objection to a teacher's gender identity, the district has responded by sending the school board's class assignment policy.

That policy states that principals are ultimately responsible for course placement.

"Parents may submit to the principal written requests for assignment or reassignment within the school of their children so long as the parents provide a compelling reason for the request," the policy says. "The principal shall consider parental requests in assigning students to classes. Unless otherwise required by law or the special circumstances described below, the principal shall balance any individual request for assignment or reassignment within the school against the welfare of other students and the efficient operation of the school."

It’s unclear what the students would do instead if they were able to opt out of the music class. The school at issue has only one music teacher and recently lost some funding because of a reassignment that sent some of its student body to other nearby schools.