School denied faith-based opt-out request from classroom instruction, Washington state father says

A Christian father, Konstantin Averkiev, has filed a federal religious liberty lawsuit against the Lake Washington School District in Washington state, alleging that his son's elementary school refused to excuse him from classroom instruction conflicting with their faith. The lawsuit, filed by Alliance Defending Freedom, claims violations of Averkiev's First and 14th Amendment rights after his son, a fourth-grader at Henry David Thoreau Elementary School, attended a Pride Month lesson in June that allegedly discussed gender-changing surgery, despite an earlier agreement for opt-out notice for LGBT-related lessons. The district's executive director of communications, Shannon Parthemer, stated that the district "affirms the rights of parents and students" and that the lesson focused on "empathy, inclusion, bullying prevention and school belonging."