A Minnesota woman is suing her own teenaged child after she sought to transition from male to female without her mother’s permission.
Anmarie Calgaro is suing her 17-year-old daughter in addition to a local school board and health officials that encouraged her child to seek gender transition care.
The teenager claims she has been living on her own for two years. Briefings filed by the young girl’s attorneys claim that she was raised by unstable parents who were victims of substance abuse. She described cooking her own meals and dressing herself for school at a young age.
She also claims that when she came out as gay at the age of 13, her mother and stepfather were verbally and physically abusive toward her. She moved out shortly after, bouncing around between her grandmother’s house and the homes of friends before finding a full-time job and getting her own apartment. She also worked with a legal aid group on an emancipation statement.
But after Calgaro learned that her daughter was receiving gender transition treatment, she filed a lawsuit seeking to restore her parental rights. According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Calgaro says she was never notified that her daughter was seeking emancipation.
Calgaro also claims that St. Louis County Public Health and Human Services and the St. Louis County School district kept medical and education records from her.
Attorneys for the teen girl told MSN that Calgaro is unlikely to win the lawsuit, given that their client has been legally emancipated.
If Calgaro were to win, it would likely only delay the inevitable. The girl turns 18 in July, meaning Calgaro would no longer have parental rights. However, the case could set important legal precedent and lead to a payout if Calgaro were to win the case.
Alex Hider is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @alexhider.
