Fact Check: Story Cited by Florida Gov. DeSantis to Justify 'Don't Say Gay' is Untrue

To hear Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis tell it, a school in his state sought to change a student's gender presentation while keeping the student's mother in the dark. A fact check done by CNN shows the story isn't true.

"On several occasions since signing the bill into law, DeSantis has highlighted the story of a woman named January Littlejohn, a registered Republican, who says she was not fully consulted about the school's gender-affirming plan for her child," CNN detailed.

According to DeSantis, "We had a mother from Leon County, and her daughter was going to school and some people in the school had decided that the daughter was really a boy and not a girl."

The story gets stranger, with DeSantis claiming that school personnel "changed the girl's name to a boy's name, had her dress like a boy and on doing all this stuff, without telling the mother or getting consent from the mother."

DeSantis went on to say, "First of all, they shouldn't be doing that at all. But to do these things behind the parents' back and to say that the parents should be shut out. That is wrong."

But the story seems not to be entirely true, CNN reported, noting that DeSantis has spun the same story on multiple occasions after signing the controversial law, which advocates worry will silence and marginalize LGBTQ+ students and those with LGBTQ+ family members.

A review by CNN of emails sent by the mother in question to the school tell a very different story –�one that seems considerably more logical and coherent.

Those emails "show Littlejohn wrote the school in 2020 and notified a teacher that her child wanted to change pronouns," CNN detailed, "Contrary to the governor's portrayal of the story, Littlejohn also wrote that she would not stop her child from using preferred pronouns or name of choice at school. Littlejohn references these emails in her lawsuit against the school and they were reported by the Tallahassee Democrat in November."

In one email, Litlejohn wrote: "She is currently identifying as non-binary. She would like to go by the new name [redacted] and prefers the pronouns they/them. We have not changed her name at home yet, but I told her if she wants to go by the name [redacted] with her teachers, I won't stop her."

In a followup email sent the same day, Littlejohn added: "This gender situation has thrown us for a loop. I sincerely appreciate your support. I'm going to let her take the lead on this."

Littlejohn and her husband only filed suit later, claiming that after having met with school officials to create "a Transgender/Gender Nonconforming Student Support Plan according to policy," she found herself sidelined, and that "the school denied her access to meetings and information and tried to conceal information regarding her child."

The school disagreed with Littlejohn's account.

""From the moment Mrs. Littlejohn first emailed her child's teacher to inform our staff of the situation, this has been handled together in partnership with clear communication," communications coordinator Chris Petley told CNN.

"We understand that outside entities have now become involved, but the family clearly instructed the school staff via email to allow their child to 'take the lead on this' and to do 'whatever you think is the best,' " Petley pointed out.