DOJ Investigating Three Michigan School Districts Over LGBTQ Content

February 20, 2026 Margaret Hetherman

Despite lacking legal authority to control K-12 curriculum, the DOJ will probe districts’ use of sexual orientation and gender ideology content, notification of parental opt-out rights, and student access to “single-sex intimate spaces.”

Featured Image: Photo by Aaron Schwartz/Xinhua via Getty Images

On Wednesday, Feb. 18, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced the launch of an investigation into three Michigan School Districts to determine whether sexual orientation and gender ideology (SOGI) content is being used in class for grades pre-K-12. According to the DOJ’s press release: If so, investigations will examine whether schools have notified parents of their right to opt children out of such instruction. The investigation will also assess whether the three Michigan School Districts limit “access to single-sex intimate spaces, such as bathrooms and locker rooms, based on biological sex.”

“This Department of Justice is fiercely committed to ending the growing trend of local school authorities embedding sexuality and gender ideology in every aspect of public education,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Supreme Court precedent is clear: parents have the right to direct the religious upbringing of their children, which includes exempting them from ideological instruction which conflicts with their families’ sincerely held religious beliefs… “

According to the Public Affairs statement release, the Detroit Public Schools Community District, Godfrey-Lee Public Schools, and the Lansing School District receive hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer funding. The DOJ plans to look at whether they are adhering to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and the Supreme Court’s decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor, 606 U.S. 522 (2025).

But according to Jay Kaplan, Staff Attorney for ACLU’s MI LGBTQ+ Project, “There’s no indication that any of these three school districts have denied any requests to opt out of their curriculum.” He explains that the Mahmoud SCOTUS decision is about the ability of parents with sincerely held religious beliefs to be able to opt their kids out of parts of the curriculum that they feel would interfere with their ability to instill those religious beliefs in their children.

“What we see instead is a fishing expedition,” he tells GO. “The Department of Justice does not have censorship authority or the ability to dictate the curriculum… it’s trying to intimidate and create fear in local school districts.”

Nonetheless, emboldened by Trump executive orders (which are not law, Kaplan assures), the DOJ is going full throttle with its probe.

In one letter, issued to Dr. Nikolai Vitti, Superintendent of Schools, Detroit Public Schools Community District, the DOJ alleges that “on November 13, 2025, the Michigan State Board of Education revised the Michigan Standards to require that local school districts add instruction on “sexual orientation,” “gender identity,” “gender diversity,” and ”gender expression” to their health and sex education curriculum beginning as early as grade six. The letter goes on to reference a Pam Bondi memorandum which cites “a growing trend of local authorities introducing gender ideology into public schools” – dropping a mention: “DOJ may enforce Title IX against recipients of federal financial assistance.”

Despite the suggestion of financial threat, Kaplan says that The Trump administration doesn’t have the authority to withhold funding. “The power of the purse is with Congress,” he says. “There has been no law passed saying that public school districts that include LGBTQ people and subject matter in the curriculum are subject to losing their federal funds. The executive branch can’t usurp that authority.”

In fact, he says, “So far, we’ve seen no successful attempt by this administration, or no actual removal of federal funding from any school district based on that executive order.”

Clearly all this raises some important constitutional issues, he says. It’s also creating chaos and unnecessary work for stakeholders.

“The breadth and scope of the federal requests, premised on a mischaracterization of the Michigan Health Education Standards Guidelines adopted by the State Board of Education, place a significant administrative burden on local districts and risk diverting time and resources away from the core mission of educating students,” states State Superintendent Dr. Glenn Maleyko in a response issued by the Michigan Department of Education. The response also indicates that the DOJ’s announcement inaccurately states that health education guidelines are state requirements (in fact, they are local district decisions).

Three state Reps. Kara Hope (D-Holt) and Emily Dievendorf (D-Lansing) also issued a joint statement: “When investigations are launched in ways that appear predetermined or driven by political agendas, they can disrupt classrooms, divert attention from learning, and create unnecessary anxiety for students and educators. They also risk compromising student privacy and the protection of sensitive personal information.”

Among the demands, the DOJ is requesting that all student, teacher, staff and Board of Ed and DPSCD Sex Education Advisory Board codes of conduct, and handbooks be identified and described. With particularity: books, policies, correspondence, and communications (etc.) that pertain to “sex,” “human reproduction,” “human sexuality,” “sexual orientation,” “gender identity,” “gender diversity,” “gender spectrum,” “gender expression,” “gender fluidity,” “gender nonconformity,” “transitioning” or “LGBTQIA+” from September I, 2023 to present.

The request lists several pages, and 10 bullet points, of elaborate demands for materials which must be submitted by April 26, 2026.

Image: portion of DOJ letter to Detroit Public Schools Community District (publicly available)

While it is troubling to see yet another attempt by this administration to make life miserable for LGBTQ young people, there is good news as Kaplan points out: to date, these stunts have not been successful. And while “Congress has not done their job in terms of providing checks and balances on this administration,” they have not passed actual legislation that would prohibit what is being taught in the schools, he adds.

“We want to reassure these school districts that they have to follow our state civil rights laws, and they have to treat all students fairly, including transgender students. They have a responsibility to provide a safe and supportive learning environment and no amount of bullying or badgering by this administration to get them to do the wrong thing should be acquiesced to, and we need to call it for what it is.”