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Konstantin Averkiev’s son attends elementary school in the Lake Washington School District near Seattle. During his son’s fourth-grade year in 2025, Averkiev, a devout Christian, went to the teacher requesting to opt out of lessons that included discussion or material surrounding the LGBTQ+ community.
His son’s teacher allegedly agreed to excuse the boy, but Averkiev claims that did not happen. He’s since filed a federal lawsuit with attorneys from the Alliance Defending Freedom, claiming the district violated his First and 14th Amendment rights.
Averkiev holds strong religious beliefs.
According to a release from the ADF, Averkiev has “sincere religious beliefs about sex, gender, and marriage” that he wants to instill in his son. The boy, entering fifth grade in 2026, attends school in the Lake Washington School District where they reportedly used LGBTQ+ “inclusive curricula.” After meeting with his son’s teacher at the beginning of fourth grade and coming to what he believed to be an agreement about opting out of LGBTQ+-related instruction, Averiev took issue with a Pride Month lesson in June. The lesson reportedly included discussion of “gender-change” surgery, per the ADF.
“Averkiev was given no notice or opportunity to opt his son out of this lesson. So he wrote the principal, but received no response,” the release alleges.
Averkiev requested similar accommodations for his son in fifth grade.
ADF attorneys reportedly helped Averkiev pen a letter to the school district requesting the boy opt out from LGBTQ+-related lessons “including individual counseling sessions and the compelled use of biologically inaccurate pronouns. The district rejected nearly all of his requests. The only opt-out the district granted—for sex-education curriculum and surveys—are required by state law,” the ADF shared.
Averkiev filed a federal lawsuit.
Averkiev shared a statement with Fox News Digital defending his lawsuit.
“As a parent, I have a right to decide what my son learns about sex and gender at school. He’s ten years old. I don’t want him to learn about gender-change surgery and using false pronouns,” he wrote. “I have repeatedly asked to opt my son out of the school district’s LGBTQ+ instruction. But the district has refused. I am filing this lawsuit so schools cannot ignore parents like me.”
Averkiev’s attorney agrees with her client’s stance. She believes the school district violated her client’s First and Fourteenth Amendment Rights.
“Parents have the fundamental right to direct their children’s religious upbringing and education, even at school,” ADF Senior Counsel Kate Anderson, director of the ADF Center for Parental Rights, shared. “Washington state officials can’t force parents like Mr. Averkiev to give up that right or accept a burden on their children’s religious upbringing in exchange for the benefit of public education. Our Constitution forbids schools from indoctrinating children with the government’s views on sexuality and gender—hotly debated and sensitive topics—that substantially undermine their religious upbringing.”
Multiple Christian and private schools serve the area covered by the Lake Washington School District. It’s unclear why Averkiev opted not to send his son to one of those instead of public school.
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