Parents’ lawsuit against Ludlow MA schools system for “transitioning” their children is getting national attention!
MassResistance worked for months exposing and documenting the lurid facts – and worked closely with the parents. Now it’s in the court’s hands.
We’re thrilled that our work helped!
MassResistance has been helping parents on the frontlines in the schools for over 25 years.
April 26, 2022
This is just the tip of the iceberg - of what the teachers, "counselors," and other staff were doing to children behind the parents' backs.This past week, news media across the country (and beyond) have been buzzing about a blockbuster lawsuit filed in Federal District Court last week by four parents in Ludlow, Massachusetts against the Ludlow Public Schools and several employees there.
In the 58-page filing, the parents accuse the staff of Ludlow’s Baird Middle School of secretly counseling their children to identify as “transgender.” The staff persuaded them to adopt opposite-sex names and new “personal pronouns.” After the parents ordered the school to stop, the Ludlow school administrators allowed the staff to continue doing this – effectively pushing the children further into gender confusion.
The lawsuit has been reported on Fox News, The Boston Globe, New York Post, The Hill, The Daily Mail (U.K.), Daily Caller, LifeSiteNews, and many more outlets, including local TV stations and talk radio across the U.S. The lawsuit was filed by Child & Parental Rights Campaign (with offices in GA and VA), along with a local Massachusetts attorney.
The Baird Middle School in Ludlow, MA, has become infamous for the horrible treatment of children, parents, and a teacher who spoke out!In the trenches: How MassResistance did the groundwork of reporting and exposing the outrageous actions by the school
MassResistance is thrilled to have been able to help the fight get to this point. Our 25+ years of experience has given us understanding on how to tackle violations like this by schools.
Starting in December 2020, we worked with the Ludlow parents and one of the heroic teachers there. We exposed much of the material brought out in the court filing. And we gave other parents in town strategies to fight this, leading to two high-profile resignations in the school district.
See our 13-part series on the Ludlow Middle School horror, published in 2021.
Here are some of the key points from our reports:
- The problems started in 2019. As we reported, starting in 2019, pornographic books began appearing in the Baird Middle School library and weird sexual posters were put up outside the library doors. Teachers and counselors secretly began pushing the concept of “preferred pronouns” to the children. Kids were given links to “transgender” YouTube videos.
- Exposing toxic LGBT books. MassResistance exposed several of the graphic homosexual and transgender books that were in the middle school library, many of which were also being brought into the classrooms for children to read.
- School staff “grooming” children. We exposed how the Baird middle school staff was grooming kids to be “transgender” – and completely hiding it from parents. It started with “preferred pronouns,” then assigning them opposite-sex names. It even included banning the term “boys and girls.”
- Son and daughter of plaintiffs were “groomed.” We then exposed how, in early 2021, both the son and daughter of Stephen Foote and Marissa Silvestri (two of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit) were counseled into transgenderism by the middle school staff. We revealed an email from a school counselor to the staff members confirming this – and telling them not to let the parents know about it.
- Mobilizing the community. In March 2021, MassResistance was called in and helped organize parents in Ludlow. Among other things, we put together a strong flyer which parents leafletted across town. This had a huge effect, as people found out and contacted school officials.
- Meeting with Superintendent. Also in March 2021, Brian Camenker of MassResistance attended a Zoom meeting with Stephen, Marissa, Superintendent Todd Gazda, and the school “compliance” expert. The parents ordered the schools to stop pushing this agenda on their children. The compliance expert tried to claim that the Department of Education guidelines allowed them to do it. Camenker reminded her that the DOE guidelines are just suggestions, not state law, and that they must obey the parents. However, the school continued on its same path, ignoring the parents.
- Librarian and Superintendent both resign. In April, it was revealed that the middle school librarian had resigned. In May, the Superintendent Todd Gazda announced he was resigning. These are likely the result of the outrage generated by the flyer and exposure.
- Superintendent’s outrageous rant against parents. We next posted this report (with video): At the May 25 School Board meeting, Gazda read an angry, bizarre rant against the city’s parents. He said that parents’ complaints of pornography and grooming their children amounted to their “intolerance of LGBTQ individuals” that are “thinly veiled behind a camouflage of parental rights” and were simply “half-truths, misrepresentations, and false accusations.” Gazda went on to say that, “For many students school is their only safe place, and that safety evaporates when they leave the confines of our buildings.”
- School Board Chairman's hate-filled rant against parents. We also posted the report and video of the June 8 School Board meeting. It included a hate-filled rant by the School Board Chairman against the parents who were complaining. He also lashed out at MassResistance for having “become very active in recruiting residents of our town.”
- Supporting plaintiff. Finally, we reported how Stephen Foote addressed the School Board on July 20 and informed them, “You are going to be sued.” We also published information to help him raise money.
These are a few of the posters that were put up just outside of the Baird Middle School Library - apparently by the librarian - but were taken down after parents expressed outrage.
This list of "alternative terms" was posted for the teachers to use instead of "boys and girls." Note especially "organisms" and "Lab rats"!
The former Baird Middle School librarian (right) is described in the press as "non-binary."
Stephen Foote addresses the Ludlow School Board on July 20, 2021.Final thoughts
This lawsuit has definitely shaken up the Ludlow school department and town officials – and that’s a good thing!
It’s obviously hard to predict how it will go in the Federal District Court in Springfield, MA. It’s a very left-wing environment. But many will recall that Scott Lively won his case there in 2017 when he was sued by a Soros-funded international LGBT group, with a very biased pro-LGBT Federal judge. That was due to masterful work by his Liberty Counsel attorneys. Let’s hope that this legal group helping the parents is just as good!
Stephen Foote (r) with Brian Camenker of MassResistance. We are supporting the Foote family and the other family 100%!
Please help us continue to do our uncompromising work!
Our successes depend on people like you.
Your support will make the difference!