Hate group sues school district for not notifying Christian dad about lessons on anti-bullying

An anti-LGBTQ+ Christian Nationalist hate group representing a Christian father filed a lawsuit on September 8 against a Washington state school district for allegedly denying the father’s request to opt his elementary school-aged son out of lessons on LGBTQ+ issues. The school said the lesson the father’s upset about was actually a lesson against bullying.

Konstantin Averkiev, represented by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), alleges that the Lake Washington School District didn’t notify him when his son was taught lessons on sexuality and gender in his fourth- and fifth-grade classes, even though Averkiev reportedly asked his son’s teacher to notify him about any such lessons. The father said that the lessons go against his sincerely held religious beliefs.

“The year went on and dad got no notice of anything until his son came home in June and was talking about a lesson on gender change surgeries,” ADF attorney Kate Anderson said, according to Nisqually Valley News.

Anderson said that Averkiev spoke with his son’s teacher, who said that the father should’ve been notified about the classes. However, school officials allegedly told Averkiev that he couldn’t opt his son out of any LGBTQ+-related lessons, except for state-mandated sex education classes.

The ADF’s lawsuit alleges that the district violated Averkiev’s First Amendment rights to freedom of religion and his Fourteenth Amendment right to due process.

In a statement, Shannon Parthemer, executive director of communications for the school district, said that the lessons the father objected to “focused on empathy, inclusion, bullying prevention, and school belonging.”

“Students examined school-climate data, considered the effects of biased remarks and bullying, and reflected on actions that can help all students, including LGBTQ+ students, feel safer and more connected at school,” Parthemer’s statement said.

“Lake Washington School District affirms the rights of parents and students. We support parents’ authority under Washington state law to opt their children out of sexual health curriculum and surveys, and we remain committed to ensuring that every student can learn in a safe and welcoming environment,” her statement concluded.

The statement didn’t mention the lawsuit’s details or its connection to the Supreme Court’s 2025 ruling in Mahmoud v. Taylor, which said schools must allow religious parents to opt their students out of classes containing LGBTQ+ content.

ADF, which has been certified as an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, has successfully represented numerous anti-LGBTQ+ cases at the Supreme Court, with the court’s conservative majority consistently voting in its favor.

ADF’s recent religious rights victories at the Court include the following:

Mahmoud v. Taylor, a 2025 decision that ruled that schools must allow religious parents to opt their students out of classes containing LGBTQ+ content.
303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, a 2023 decision that ruled that Colorado can’t enforce its anti-discrimination law against a Christian web designer.
Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, a 2022 decision that ruled that the school district violated a football coach’s First Amendment rights by preventing him from praying on the field after games.
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, a 2022 decision that ruled that pregnant individuals have no constitutional right to receive an abortion. The ruling has endangered the lives of pregnant people seeking reproductive healthcare.
Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, a 2018 decision that Colorado’s commission didn’t act with the required religious neutrality when evaluating a baker who refused to make a cake for a same-sex wedding.
Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., a 2014 decision that religious corporations don’t have to follow a federal law requiring them to provide contraception coverage to employees.