Christian Mom Barred From Portland School Seeks Emergency Order on Speech, Secret Gender Transitions

A Christian mom asked a court for an emergency order preventing Portland Public Schools from excluding her from her daughter’s school and reversing its policy on keeping gender transitions secret from parents.

Portland, Oregon, native Allison Roberts sued her school district earlier this month, alleging retaliation for her free speech in opposition to the school’s transgender policies.

“There’s no Portland exception to the Constitution,” Timothy Snowball, Roberts’ attorney with the Liberty Justice Center, told the Daily Signal in an interview Wednesday.

Snowball noted that the school accused Roberts of engaging in “hate speech,” but he said, “The First Amendment frankly exists to protect offensive and unpopular speech.”

Roberts sent her three children to Meriwether Lewis Elementary School. Last year, she objected to the painting of a “Progress Pride” flag on a school bench and then raised concerns about a gender identity lesson given to her son. Roberts claimed the Parent-Teacher Association prevented her from speaking at a meeting, so she printed a pamphlet and distributed it on the sidewalk outside the school.

After a heated exchange with another parent, Roberts received a trespass order, barring her from the grounds of her children’s school. Due to this order, she could not attend her son’s graduation from elementary school.

Last week, Roberts asked the U.S. District Court in Oregon for a preliminary injunction restoring her access to school property, revoking public statements attacking her character, and granting her “notice of, and an opportunity to opt her children out from, LGBTQ+ curricula that contradicts her religious or personal beliefs.” The injunction also seeks protection for other parents and the suspension of a policy against notifying parents if their children announce a gender transition at school.

Portland Public Schools has not yet responded to the motion. According to Snowball, the district’s response is due Sept. 8, after which the parties will brief the issue before a federal judge who will consider whether to grant temporary relief while the lawsuit proceeds.

Snowball has previously cited Mirabelli v. Bonta (2026), a case in which the Supreme Court upheld an injunction against California’s gender secrecy policy, which mandated that school staff hide a student’s claimed transgender identity from parents unless the student expressly consented to reveal it.

“Every parent has the freedom to speak up. That is exactly why I’m pursuing this,” Roberts told the Daily Signal in an interview Wednesday.

Roberts remains barred from school property, meaning the dispute continues to affect her ability to participate in school activities involving her children.

Speaking about missing her daughter’s orientation for school this year, she said, “This has been what the district meant it to be, punitive.”