A Portland mother was banned from her child’s school following concerns over a gender identity assignment given to her son. Allison Roberts, who attended Meriwether Lewis Elementary with her children in Oregon, reported that her 11-year-old brought home an “identity flower” exercise requiring him to identify his gender and share it with classmates.
Roberts said she received no advance notice of the assignment and was unable to request an exemption. When she sought clarification from school staff, she encountered resistance including a teacher’s demand, “Why do you need to know?” After obtaining materials that instructed children to consider gender as something that might change over time, Roberts filed a complaint with Portland Public Schools. The school district later issued her a one-year trespass order barring her from campus and threatened to extend it permanently after she distributed a second letter challenging the policies.
Roberts said the ban prevented her from attending her oldest child’s elementary school graduation. She has since filed a lawsuit against Portland Public Schools, representing her case with the Liberty Justice Center.
