California single mother Jessica Konen joined "Fox & Friends" with her daughter, Alicia, on Thursday after reaching a $100,000 landmark settlement over a school socially transitioning her child from a girl to a boy without her consent.
"I decided to actually go public with the story because I knew that I needed to fight for her, I needed to be able to provide that parental guidance that she needed… I decided to go forward with the story because I wanted to protect her and I wanted to be there for her," Jessica said.
Earlier this week, Fox News Digital first reported that the Spreckels Union School District in Monterey County settled with Konen in a case that has sparked nationwide conversation. Jessica said her 11-year-old daughter, Alicia, was told by her school that she may be upset because she didn’t know who she "truly was inside" and questioned her sexuality.
From there, the school allowed Alicia to use the boy’s bathroom, used male pronouns to refer to her and was "socially transitioned" away from her biological gender.
Once Konen found out that her daughter was being identified as a male and socially transitioning without her knowledge, she sued the school district and enlisted the Center for American Liberty for guidance and support.
"I feel that parents should be involved… anything the child goes through, I think the parent should be involved," Jessica said. "It’s up to me, you know, to be able to guide her in that direction. That’s what my parental right is."
She then urged educators to stop keeping things from parents because it "creates division within families" and "stops the bond that you make with your children."
"You parents have the right to raise your own kids," Jessica said.
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Alicia, who has since returned to a female identity, discussed her experience as well.
"After COVID hit, I ended up being out of the control of the school, and I really figured out that who the school said I was, I was not," Alicia said. "And that I was a girl, and I was Alicia. It was eye-opening to me because I had an identity for so long that was false."
Mark Trammell, executive director of the Center for American Liberty, joined "Fox & Friends" alongside the Konens to discuss the landmark settlement.
"This type of incident, these are happening in schools across the country, and I think schools are going to wake up and realize there is a financial liability at stake here," Trammell said. "Parental secrecy policies you might expect in a place like California, but you don’t expect it in Middle America, but I can tell you, our offices have had calls from, I think probably all 50 states."
Jessica offered advice to parents across the country who might find themselves in similar situations. She feels that parents, who might be in the dark about what’s happening at school, need to follow their intuition if they feel "something’s wrong" with their child.
"Be vigilant inside the classrooms, pay attention to their behavior when they come home. Are they acting different? Be involved. Set yourself inside the classrooms, as the questions that are uncomfortable," she said.
"I know it’s kind of hard to bring the subject up, but if you make your thoughts and your opinions… you put them up front for people to hear and understand, do your research on the schools, on the teachers, on the school board. I think that parents, no matter what, should go with their gut feelings."
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