A Mother’s Love… Not! (Part 2)

Back in November I wrote about a mother suing her daughter to prevent her transition, well now the daughter gets to speak in court.

Minnesota Transgender Teen Sued By Her Own Mom Speaks Out
NBC News Out
By Mary Emily O'Hara
January 26, 2017

On Thursday morning at a U.S. District Court in St. Paul, Minnesota, an improbable case began to unfold. As a courtroom full of about 20 people looked on, Anmarie Calgaro's attorneys explained why the small-town mom from the state's northernmost "Iron Range" is suing her own 17-year-old child.

The teen in question—referred to as "E.J.K." in court memos—says she's been living on her own for two years. After the minor worked with a legal aid group on an emancipation statement, she began to seek transgender-specific medical care at a local clinic.

When the teen's estranged mom discovered E.J.K. had begun to receive gender transition-related care, she tried to intervene—but said she was surprised to discover her parental rights had been effectively terminated. In November, Calgaro filed a lawsuit against her daughter, health clinics and county agencies.

The mother back in November said she was a loving, caring, nurturing mother and that the state had no right in taking away her parental rights of her “son.”  Well the daughter got her say in court…

The teen also said when she first came out as gay around age 13, her mother and stepfather became verbally and physically abusive. At age 15, she said, her mom gave her permission to move in with her biological father—who became incarcerated shortly afterward. E.J.K. then stayed with her grandmother and a series of friends before finally getting her own apartment, where she currently lives.

The teen is remarkably self-sufficient: She has her own apartment, a full-time job and will graduate high school in the spring. She has already received two acceptance letters, say court documents, from college nursing programs. She turns 18 in July.

After her testimony the judge said,

Thursday's oral arguments lasted about an hour, with lawyers mostly arguing about whether Calgaro has a constitutional ground for suing anyone. In the end, the judge told the courtroom that he plans to take the case under advisement, apologizing for a backlog that could delay the process.

The mother is suing,

Calgaro's lawsuit seeks damages from St. Louis County, where her hometown is located. She's also suing the St. Louis School Board and the principal of her daughter's high school, the director of the county's Health and Human Services agency, and two nonprofit health clinics. Calgaro also wants to regain parental control of E.J.K. and prevent healthcare providers from offering any further treatment.

It seems to me that the mother doesn't have a leg to stand on in this cases.