In Colorado, a group of concerned parents has initiated legal action against their local school district following an incident on a school trip. During the overnight stay, a transgender-identifying male student was allegedly assigned to a hotel room—and eventually the same bed—with an 11-year-old girl.

The lawsuit, titled “Wailes v. Jefferson County Public Schools,” was brought to the forefront by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), an organization known for championing religious liberties. On Wednesday, ADF submitted their initial brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit on behalf of four families involved in the case.

The core of the complaint is that the district, situated in the Denver vicinity, allows students who are biologically male to share overnight accommodations with female students based solely on their gender identity. This policy is implemented without informing parents or obtaining their consent, the lawsuit claims.

The families argue that these practices infringe upon their fundamental rights to oversee their children’s upbringing and education. They express concerns that such policies could place students in uncomfortable or even unsafe situations.

Among those seeking changes to the district’s rooming policies are Joe and Serena Wailes, who advocate for more transparency and involvement of parents in such decisions. Their efforts highlight a growing debate over parental rights and student safety in school policies.

During the summer of 2023, Joe and Serena Wailes’s daughter had just finished fifth grade and was reportedly traveling with classmates on a school trip to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

The Wailes said their daughter was assigned to a two-bed hotel room with three other students — two girls from her school and one from another school in the district, the suit stated.

According to the complaint, as the children prepared for bed on the first night, the daughter learned that her bedmate was biologically male and identifies as a transgender female. The girl reportedly went into the bathroom to call her mother, who was nearby and serving as a chaperon.

Joe and Serena Wailes are among several parents suing Jefferson County Public Schools in Colorado.  (Alliance Defending Freedom)

The room assignment came despite assurances from district officials that boys and girls would be placed on different hotel floors, the lawsuit said.

Jefferson County Public Schools’ policy, however, reportedly states that students may be assigned overnight accommodations based on gender identity. 

The lawsuit also claims the district does not allow families to opt out or request that their children room only with students of the same biological sex.

Parents allege their daughter was improperly roomed during a school trip to Washington, D.C. (Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency)

“The district’s policy of rooming students by gender identity rather than sex without prior notice or a sex-separated alternative violates the families’ free exercise, bodily privacy, and parental rights,” ADF said in a press release on Thursday. 

The lawsuit also cites several other instances in which children were placed in similar situations. In another example, the family of an 11-year-old boy attending a school-run camp said they were told his counselor would be male, but later learned the counselor was a biologically female adult who identifies as non-binary and had been assigned to supervise the boys in their cabin and during showers.

“Parents, not government bureaucrats, have the right and responsibility to direct the upbringing and education of their children, and that includes making informed decisions to protect their children’s privacy,” ADF Senior Counsel Kate Anderson, director of the ADF Center for Parental Rights, said in a statement.

“This fundamental right is especially vital for all parents who wish to raise their children according to their religious values and protect their children’s bodily privacy. Jefferson County Public Schools claims to ‘freely grant accommodations to all,’ yet they will not offer equal accommodations to religious students to access educational opportunities without sacrificing their bodily privacy.”

Jefferson County Public Schools did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.