A Florida man has filed suit against a Villa Park School District and his ex-wife, claiming they have violated his constitutional rights as a parent by conspiring to help their child transition their gender from male to female, over the father’s objections.
On April 19, plaintiff Bryan Veseley filed a complaint in Chicago federal court against School District 45, an elementary school district in west suburban Villa Park, in DuPage County.
He is represented in the action by attorneys Dean J. Tatooles and Mason S. Coles, of the firm of Cole Sadkin, of Chicago.
According to the complaint, Veseley shares custody a 12-year-old child, identified in the complaint as A.V.
The complaint identifies A.V. as Veseley’s son, and a sixth grade student at Jackson Middle School in Villa Park.
According to the complaint, A.V. has “expressed to his parents and School District 45’s staff that he wanted to adopt a new female name and use female pronouns at school,” as well as “dress as a female and wear make-up, including nail polish and lipstick.”
According to the complaint, Veseley said he “decided that immediately transitioning would not be in his minor son’s best interest,” and asked “A.V. to take time to explore the cause of his feelings before allowing such a significant change to his identity.”
However, the complaint asserts the child’s mother and staff at District 45 ignored Veseley’s objections, and “worked in concert … to promote or otherwise affirm A.V.’s social transition to a different gender identity at school without Bryan’s parental consent and over Bryan’s express written objection to School District 45.”
According to the complaint, the child is now being known at school by “female names” and dressing as a female, with make-up.
The complaint asserts the school district’s actions violate his fundamental rights as a parent, granted under both the U.S. Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment and Article 1 of the Illinois state constitution.
Specifically, he said courts have long recognized the “right of parents ‘to direct the upbringing and education of children under their control.’”
The complaint notes the U.S. Supreme Court “has described this right as ‘essential,’ a ‘basic civil right of man,’ ‘far more precious … than property rights,’ and ‘established beyond debate as an enduring American tradition.’”
“Importantly, Illinois courts have recognized that parents are the primary decision-makers with respect to their minor children – not their school, or even the children themselves,” the complaint states. “Simply because the decision of a parent is not agreeable to a child or because it involves risks does not automatically transfer the power to make that decision from the parents to some agency or officer of the state.”
The complaint further notes that parental rights are often strongest when dealing with medical and health related decisions for their children.
Veseley is seeking a court order forbidding District 45 staff from referring to students “using a name or pronouns at odds with their biological sex, while at school, without parental consent.”
Vesely is further seeking a court order requiring District 45 and his ex-wife to pay him money damages of at least $75,000, plus unspecified punitive damages, for allegedly engaging in conspiracy to violate his constitutional parental rights.