Kellogg School District in North Idaho faces two federal lawsuits in the wake of suspending a student and barring him from attending his high school graduation over anti-transgender statements made during an assembly this spring.
According to court documents, Travis Lohr, one of the plaintiffs and the high school senior at the center of the controversy, told students at a school assembly in May 2023 that “Guys are guys and girls are girls. There is no in-between.”
Lohr said all seniors were allowed to address the student body during the assembly.
Following the assembly, the school’s principal, Dan Davidian, called Lohr’s mother, according to court records, to tell her he was being suspended and could not attend his graduation ceremony.
Lohr’s lawsuit said Davidian told his mother his comments were “rude, inappropriate and offensive to the gay community.”
Such actions violate Lohr’s constitutional rights to free speech, the suit claims, since pro-LGBTQ views weren’t similarly punished or silenced at the school.
Those allegations include at least one teacher displaying a pride flag in her classroom and the presence of a gay pride student club.
A few days following his suspension, Lohr claims a job offer with the U.S. Forest Service was rescinded. He alleges his confidential school information was “clandestinely and maliciously” leaked to his potential employer by the district or someone associated with it.
Lohr wants the district to admit it violated his First Amendment rights, purge his student record of the violation and pay him damages following a jury trial.
One of the district’s former bus drivers, Dakota Mailloux, filed a separate lawsuit claiming he was fired from his job after attending a protest in support of Lohr outside of his working hours.
Both men are represented by the same law office.
Mailloux had worked for the district since November 2020.
According to his lawsuit, Mailloux received a phone call from his supervisor while at the protest asking him to come to his office.
That’s when Mailloux said he was fired at the direction of Kellogg School District Superintendent Lance Pearson. Mailloux’s supervisor told him, according to the suit, he was on school property protesting something he had “no business” being involved with.
Mailloux is asking for his position to be reinstated, recoup backpay and benefits, as well as recover additional damages.
Kellogg School District and the other defendants in these two lawsuits have not yet formally replied in court documents.
Pearson didn’t respond to a request for comment from Boise State Public Radio.
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