Some parents and students are worried about a biological boy using the girls’ locker room in Massapequa, New York, but if Kerry Wachter lets them air their views during school board meetings, she could lose her seat.
Ms. Wachter, who chairs the Massapequa Union Free School District Board of Education, cited a guidance issued in May by New York Attorney General Letitia James warning that board members who allow public comments that “demean and stigmatize LGBTQ+ students” risk being removed from office.
As far as Ms. Wachter is concerned, that’s a First Amendment violation.
She filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday with three other New Yorkers — a Schenectady County school board member and two Nassau County parents — challenging the attorney general’s directive, saying it prohibits protected speech and discriminates based on viewpoint.
“It’s just a way to shut down free and open ideas and debate and policy discussions,” Ms. Wachter told The Washington Times. “They’re trying to shut down conversations. They’re trying to tie the hands of school boards who are duly elected by their communities. We want to hear from our communities, and she’s trying to intimidate us to not allow this kind of conversation to continue.”
The May 8 guidance signed by Ms. James and New York Education Commissioner Betty Rosa warned that local board members face removal from office for speaking out — or allowing others to speak out at meetings — against transgender access to opposite-sex restrooms, locker rooms and sports.
They indicated that complaints about transgender students have become a problem.
“[S]ome board members have made, and encouraged, comments during board meetings that demean and stigmatize LGBTQ+ students,” the directive said, according to the lawsuit. “These comments have included attacks on school support for LGBTQ+ student groups and on transgender and gender-expansive students’ rights to use facilities, including restrooms and locker rooms, or participate on school athletic teams consistent with their gender identity — rights that remain firmly embedded in state law.”
Ms. James cited the Dignity for All Students Act, which seeks to provide students with a “safe and supportive environment free from discrimination, intimidation, taunting, harassment, and bullying,” as well as the New York State Human Rights Law.
“Under the First Amendment, school board meetings are considered limited public for,” said the Joint Guidance on Harassment and Bullying at School Board Meetings. “This means that school boards that allow public comment ‘may make reasonable, viewpoint-neutral rules governing the content of speech allowed,’ including prohibiting all comments on a particular topic that would have discriminatory, harassing, or bullying effects.”
The guidance also warned board members using or allowing speakers to use non-preferred pronouns when referring to transgender individuals.
NEW SLF LAWSUIT: New York school board members and parents sue Letitia James for 1A violations after State of New York threatens to remove school board members who allow debate on trans issues. Read more: https://t.co/ZDoCT7xoTU pic.twitter.com/a8gnEhAPpv
— Southeastern Legal Foundation (@slf_liberty) December 9, 2025
For Ms. Wachter, the issue isn’t hypothetical. A few months ago, a biological male who identifies as female began using the girls’ locker room at a district school, spurring concerns from students and parents that spilled into school board meetings.
“This is an ongoing issue currently in Massapequa,” she said. “We’ve had very lively board meetings. A majority of our parents and students came out and spoke out against it.”
She said the board didn’t cut them off, despite Ms. James’ directive.
“Someone has to stand up for these girls,” Ms. Wachter said. “They’re being brave to come out, but if Letitia James had her way, as soon as they came to the microphone and started speaking about this issue, we should have shut them down and told them to go sit down, we don’t want to hear from you.”
As a result, Ms. Wachter could lose her position, said Kim Hermann, president of the Southeastern Legal Foundation, who filed the complaint in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York.
“They have continued to allow public debate on this issue and Letitia James has not yet threatened Kerry with removal, but Letitia James and the New York State Board of Education have threatened others with removal for similar situations,” said Ms. Hermann. “We know for a fact that when they come down with guidance or instructions saying school board members have to do X, Y or Z, or else they will be subject to removal, that they are very serious about this.”
Filing the lawsuit with Ms. Wachter are Danielle Ciampino, an elected member of the Rotterdam-Mohonasen Central School District Board of Education; Sara Rouse, whose child attends school in the Rockville Centre Union Free School District; and Isaac Kuo, who has five children in the Rockville Centre district.
