MOORE, Okla. ( KFOR ) – A Cleveland County judge ruled on New Year’s Eve that a State Board of Education vote denying a student’s request to change their gender markers on their school records was a violation of their rights under the Oklahoma Constitution.
The decision follows a lawsuit filed by the Moore Public Schools student’s family in December of 2023, months after an October vote on the issue. The lawsuit argued the student was denied the opportunity for due process through a formal hearing for their request. It also argued an emergency rule the OSBE had approved before that vote took place, requiring school districts to notify the OSBE before modifying students’ records was not valid.
A Cleveland County judge ruled on New Year’s Eve that the vote is null and void because the student wasn’t given their due process.
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“They had what the district court now has said was basically a sham hearing,” said Joshua Payton with the Oklahoma Equality Law Center. “They didn’t have proper notice. They basically didn’t adhere to the fundamental rights that citizens have under the Oklahoma Administrative Procedure Act and then also the Oklahoma Constitution.”