School board conspired with Moms for Liberty activists to destroy gay principal’s career, lawsuit says

A former Wisconsin school administrator, who was voted Principal of the Year, alleges that a school board fabricated stories about him "grooming" students before refusing to renew the gay educator’s contract.

Jeffrey Peterson first alleged discrimination when he was put on leave in 2023 and filed a federal lawsuit against the Raymond School Board the following year. In an amended complaint filed on August 5, Peterson alleges a detailed conspiracy to create a paper trail of accusations. The alleged plot involved Moms for Liberty-affiliated school board members Gwen Keller and Janell Wise, who won close elections in 2022, and a network of anti-LGBTQ+ activists and operatives in the community.

The lawsuit alleges that after the elections, the new school board hired an interim superintendent, Michael Garvey, who made “veiled statements suggesting that Peterson’s sexual orientation was a problem.” Ultimately, Garvey gave Peterson a negative job performance review just over a month after starting his own job in the district, the first poor review in Peterson’s three-decade career.

Related: Gay Wisconsin Principal Alleges Discrimination, Says His Boss Said He'd Indoctrinate Students

An anti-LGBTQ+ political operative, Arthur Binhack, was granted access to employee records and began distributing flyers in the community in 2023 that alleged Peterson was “sexualizing and ‘grooming’ children” in the schools. The lawsuit alleges Binhack distributed an edited version of Peterson’s personnel file. A couple of months later, he began posting on social media, claiming the school board knew of “substantial allegations” against the principal. He encouraged residents to publicize their concerns and fight for “our community values.”

“Peterson’s reputation has been severely injured by the actions of the Defendants,” the complaint reads. “The Defendants and their proxies fabricated a pretext to fire Peterson based on his sexual orientation.”

Peterson’s lawsuit alleges that the anti-LGBTQ+ school board members assisted another activist, Kari Morgan, in writing a letter falsely alleging that Peterson was secretly under investigation for inappropriate conduct with children. The letter was posted on a local Moms for Liberty chapter's Facebook page in October 2023. The principal was put on leave shortly afterward.

Related: Milwaukee school board, principal sued for allegedly abusing student with gay parents

The lawsuit also details the creation of a massive open records packet containing edited information from Peterson’s personnel file, including an anonymous letter accusing him of grooming children. The complaint alleges that Moms for Liberty leaders, sitting school board members, and the letter writer coordinated to assemble an incriminating file, which was later leaked to a Fox 6 Milwaukee reporter.

Peterson ultimately lost his job after the school board voted 4-1 not to renew his contract, something his attorneys say happened because of his sexual orientation. “If Mr. Peterson wasn’t gay, then this discrimination from the board would not be happening,” attorney Ben Hitchcock told Wisconsin Public Radio.

The lawsuit alleges that the board’s actions violated Wisconsin law and constituted illegal discrimination. Peterson is seeking back pay dating to his separation from the district, punitive damages, and the redaction of public records containing the accusations leveled against him while he worked for the district.