Maryland protects trans students. Stephen Miller’s group is coming for those protections

A conservative legal group aligned with President Donald Trump is asking the federal government to investigate Maryland’s largest school district over policies protecting transgender students, escalating a national fight over who controls what happens inside public schools.

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America First Legal, founded by senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller, filed a complaint this week with the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education, accusing Montgomery County Public Schools of violating federal privacy law and constitutional protections. The group is challenging policies that allow transgender students to use affirmed names and pronouns at school without automatic parental notification.

The complaint arrives as Trump’s administration ramps up efforts to restrict transgender rights nationwide, including in education. That federal posture is colliding with Maryland law, which provides explicit nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ students.

In its 13-page letter, the organization argues that the district improperly withholds information from parents and misapplies the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, to justify confidentiality. It is asking federal officials to investigate MCPS, require policy changes, and consider withholding federal funds.

Related: Maine Gov. Janet Mills confronts Donald Trump to his face over anti-trans sports order at White House

Related: Stephen Miller's Legal Firm Sues Arizona School District Over Trans-Supportive Policies

Related: Who is Stephen Miller, the anti-LGBTQ+ white supremacist Trump picked to be a deputy WH chief of staff?

At the center of the dispute is MCPS’s gender identity guidance, which says transgender and gender-nonconforming students have “the right to keep private one’s transgender status” and allows staff to withhold disclosure from parents unless legally required or authorized by the student.

Montgomery County Public Schools declined to comment on the substance of the allegations.

“We are aware of the complaint. We will reserve comment until we have had the opportunity to review it,” Liliana López, the district’s public information officer and communications director, told The Advocate.

MCPS policy allows school staff to develop gender support plans for transgender and gender-nonconforming students, including the use of affirmed names, pronouns, and access to facilities. The district’s policy also instructs staff to assess whether a student feels safe and supported at home before contacting families, recognizing that some students may face rejection or harm if outed.

America First Legal calls that concealment. LGBTQ+ advocates call it protection.

Montgomery County has already been at the center of one Supreme Court case over LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum. Justices ruled that parents could opt their children out of learning about LGBTQ+ topics. Now it is the testing ground for a related question, and one likely to define the next phase of this debate, not about what students are taught, but whether they can safely be themselves at school at all.