[September 25, 2026] Today, four organizations and one New York school board member filed an amicus brief supporting SLF’s lawsuit on behalf of two school board members against New York Attorney General Leticia James over her threat to remove members of the Massapequa school board if they publicly spoke – or allowed public discussions at school board meetings – about transgender students using the locker rooms of their opposite biological sex. The brief was filed by Buckeye Institute, Defense of Freedom Institute, Manhattan Institute, Center for American Liberty, and Kate DelliCarpini, President of the Cold Spring Harbor Central School District’s Board of Education.

SLF filed the lawsuit last year on behalf of Kerry Wachter, the Massapequa school board president. Ms. Wachter joined SLF in the fight against AG James over her guidance letter which threatened the free speech of school board members. James threatened the removal of members if they used the wrong pronouns of a trans person or allowed students or parents to publicly speak on their discomfort with using the bathroom or locker rooms with trans students.

SLF President Kim Hermann said, “We cannot thank the Buckeye Institute and all other organizations who signed onto this amicus brief enough. This is a huge showing of support for this case which aims to restore the freedom of students, parents, and school board members to speak out publicly about any of their concerns regarding transgender issues. School board meetings should be a safe space and instead Leticia James has attempted to shape them to fit her own woke ideas.”

Download press release.