[July 1, 2026] Today, Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF), a national nonprofit legal organization dedicated to defending constitutional rights, filed a Title IX complaint with the Department of Education (DOE) against the Upper Perkiomen School District in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania on behalf of a Jan Madeira, Pennsylvania mother whose daughter with special needs was forced to choose between using the girls’ bathroom with a biological boy or to not use it at all.
The complaint asks the DOE to investigate the school district which enforces unlawful “gender identity” policies that violate Title IX. It follows an egregious instance where Ms. Madeira’s special needs daughter was not able to use the girls’ bathroom because a biological male who identified as a “furry” and a female was using it. She, along with other girls from her class, reported their discomfort to school officials. Rather than telling the biological boy to use the boys’ bathroom, the school allowed him to use the girls’ bathroom, forcing the girls to either use the bathroom with him, wait, or use the nurse’s bathroom.
And what is worse, this is not an isolated incident. The school district has even recently installed urinals in the girls’ restroom. This is an invasion of privacy no female should have to ensure, especially not children. No girl should have to endure the emotional stress and trauma associated with sharing a private space with a biological male.
SLF President Kim Hermann said, “The school should be absolutely ashamed of its actions. No child should be put in this situation, let alone a student with special needs. Insteadokay so of protecting the privacy and dignity of its female students, the district chose to force the girls to wait outside the restroom and then offered to segregate them from their peers rather than enforce sex-separated facilities. That turns Title IX on its head. Schools have a legal obligation to protect every student’s rights, not sacrifice the rights of girls to avoid making difficult decisions. Parents across America should be outraged.”
Pennsylvania mother Jan Madeira said, “As a mom of seven, I can say with assurance that my children are my life and I will do anything to protect them. That is exactly why I am standing up for my daughter who was put in a situation she should never have faced, and to make matters worse, her own school allowed it to happen. Our school district has created a dangerous environment, where it will choose to protect a biological male’s ability to use the girls’ bathroom over actual female students safety and comfort. Any parent in my shoes would rightly be outraged.”