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New York Attorney General Letitia James has been sued for allegedly threatening to remove school board members for discussing or even allowing students to discuss trans students in girls’ sports and locker rooms at school board meetings.
The alleged threats came in a “guidance letter” that warned of the removal of any school board member who uses the wrong pronoun for a transgender person or if they allow students to speak publicly at school board meetings about their fear and discomfort with trans student athletes using the wrong locker room for their biological sex.
A plaintiff in the case, Massapequa Union Free School District Board President Kerry Wachter, claimed she was told James’ office instructed her to mute and dismiss any board meeting speaker who expressed views against trans athletes in girls’ locker rooms and sports.
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A view of the Massapequa High School marquee in Massapequa, New York, on Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
“They’re saying if we allow this discussion at our board meetings, she can come in and remove us from the board,” Wachter told Pakinomist Digital. “They want me to stop public comment and stop them from speaking.”
Wachter added that trans students were not directly named in any board meetings, and conversations were only based on the feelings and concerns of female students.
School board testimony from female students and parents describing the negative experiences of girls sharing rooms with biological males became increasingly common in 2024 and 2025, often in Democrat-controlled states. Recordings of these testimonies have often gone viral, igniting public scrutiny against the policies and lawmakers that have allowed these situations.
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The Massapequa Union Free School District has become a recent epicenter of the national debate over trans students in girls’ rooms after the school board in September adopted a policy ordering all students to use restrooms and locker rooms based on their biological sex. The New York Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the district in response to the policy.
Wachter claims she received the guidance from James’ office in May of this year.
Attorney for the Southeastern Legal Foundation, Kim Hermann, argued that James’ guidance did not apply to speakers expressing support for trans inclusion.
“They’re not saying you can’t talk about this topic, they’re saying no one can speak out in favor of biological sex,” Hermann told Pakinomist Digital. “If a transgender activist or an LGBTQ activist says ‘boys should be in girls’ sports, we should have boys in girls’ locker rooms, these people are horrible’, they can say what they want… but anyone who disagrees with them can no longer speak at these meetings.”
The lawsuit claims James’ office cited The Dignity for All Students Act (DASA), a New York state law that seeks to prevent harassment and bullying.
However, Hermann argues that the law does not override the First Amendment and citizens’ rights to speak on issues at school board meetings.
“The First Amendment right here is true, and whether you have these state laws or not, a state can’t come in and just wipe the First Amendment out of the Constitution,” Hermann said. “Whether or not statements and discussions about transgender people and these various policies actually violate these state laws is absolutely irrelevant to what we’re talking about in this lawsuit.
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“When they threaten to remove bi-elected school board members simply to allow public debate, that’s a flagrant violation of the First Amendment.”
Pakinomist Digital reached out to James’ office for comment.
The other plaintiffs in the lawsuit include Danielle Ciampino, a member of the Rotterdam-Mohonasen Central School District Board of Education; Sarah Rouse, mother of students in the Rockville Center Union Free School District; and Issac Kuo, a father of students in the Rockville Center Union Free School District.
