When the president addresses a joint session of Congress in Washington, D.C., the first lady will have January Littlejohn, the Tallahassee mother who sued the Leon County School Board for allegedly permitting her 13-year-old daughter to transition without her consent, as a special guest. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump asked Littlejohn and 14 other guests to speak on what Trump refers to as the “disaster” that was the Biden administration, according to a White House news release. Littlejohn is an active parent advocate, a professional mental health counselor, and a stay-at-home mother. She is frequently linked to Moms for Liberty, a conservative group that supports parental freedom.
Republican politicians in Florida were incensed by her lawsuit against the Leon County School Board, and Governor Ron DeSantis passed the Parental Rights in Education Act—dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” by its detractors. Littlejohn’s courage in speaking up during the bill signing was even praised by the governor. “What happened to our family is one of the many reasons why this bill is necessary,” Littlejohn stated during the governor’s press announcement. The lawsuit claimed that after the parents informed a teacher that they did not agree with the changes and that they preferred their daughter’s pronouns to remain the ones assigned at birth, the district addressed name changes and restroom choices without getting their consent.
According to the district’s LGBTQ+ handbook at the time, parents were exempt from being informed of their child’s gender identity or sexual orientation. One of the requirements of the case against the district was that the guide be updated, and this has now happened. The school system “drove a wedge” between the family with their “covert plans,” according to the White House news release, a claim that school authorities refute. A federal judge dismissed her action in January 2023, stating that the suit’s claims did not reach the high standard required by federal case law, despite the fact that the 2021 case garnered global attention.
“I personally met with the parents before this lawsuit was filed, and before the passage of the Parental Bill of Rights, and felt as though we had reached an amicable resolution,” Superintendent Rocky Hanna stated following the dismissal of the case. “Unfortunately, this unnecessary lawsuit has now cost our school district — and ultimately taxpayers — thousands of dollars that otherwise would have gone to support the education of our children.” Littlejohn’s legal team appealed the ruling, and it is still pending. Additional invitees include the mother and sister of Laken Riley, a young female nursing student who was slain at a traffic check, the widow of a New York police officer who was killed, and a 15-year-old Texas girl who was harassed on social media.