Christian parents sue Oregon for ruling them guilty of child abuse for not transing their daughter after therapist claims ‘mental injury’

Christian parents are suing Oregon after a state agency ruled that they had caused their daughter “mental injury” by refusing to affirm her trans identity, with the parents saying that their constitutional rights have been violated. The ordealbegan when the family sought counseling for their two daughters.

Speaking with the Daily Signal, Nicole Calaway said that the years-long incident has “destroyed our lives.” She said that both of her daughters, the eldest of which had already moved out at the beginning of the case, now claim a transgender identity, are now estranged. “I was so distraught, it felt like I was gutted. Both my daughters were gone. I took myself to the hospital and admitted myself for a week because I couldn’t handle it.”

The suit states that the Calaways’ two daughters, became “increasingly withdrawn and secluded” in 2018, with the parents placing both of their children in counseling. K.A., the daughter at the center of the case who was 15 at the time, has “long-standing” issues with mental health, including self-harm, suicidal ideation, and diagnoses of Tourette’s, chronic PTSD, anxiety, and mood and depressive disorders. The suit stated that in addition to these difficulties, the child was also going through Covid disruptions, conflict with the daughters’ biological father, loss of friendships, and “peer and online influences.” 

The Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) first received a referral concerning the family in February of 2023, which was closed at screening. A second referral alleging that the parents “lectured K.A. and called her names” was closed as unfounded. The child’s biological father, Keith Allison, also filed a motion for immediate danger twice in 2024, which were denied. 

The lawsuit states that the Calaways “are conservative Christians, united in their faith. Under their sincerely held religious beliefs, the body is not to be disfigured. Under biological and medical reality, a person cannot change from one sex to the other. A boy is a boy, and a girl is a girl.” The parents also believed that transitioning minors is harmful and “has never been proven safe or effective for treating gender dysphoria.”

“Consistent with these shared convictions, Nicole engaged her daughter with facts and evidence. She showed her daughter recordings of public school-board meetings, material from the Cass Review, and the account of a person who had ‘detransitioned,'” the suit reads.

K.A. left school on May 23, 2024 with a friend and the friend’s father without notifying her parents, “telling school staff she did not feel safe at home because, the night before, her mother had shown her videos about the transgender issue.” K.A. later returned, and thanked her mother in the days following for helping her “acknowledge reality.”

The suit alleges that in a July 2024 call with K.A.’s counseler, Jennifer Forster, “K.A. herself pressed Forster to explain why she would not help K.A. ‘live in reality,’ and told Forster that she had ‘woken up’ to the ‘truth’ about what she called the transgender ‘cult’ and no longer wanted Forster’s services.” Forster “grew defensive, responded that parents should not be involved in their daughter’s therapy, and refused to answer Nicole’s questions.”

Immediately after the session, Forster called ODHS caseworker Rachel Woods to report the termination, with Woods telling Forster that ODHS had already “found grounds for mom and step-dad’s mental abuse of clients” in not affirming K.A.’s transgender identity. Woods recommended that Forster call Child Protective Services, which she did the following day, making a number of statements that the lawsuit categorized as false. 

“Forster’s falsehoods supplied ODHS with a fabricated appearance of urgency – a vulnerable child abruptly stripped of all mental health ‘support’ by an ‘aggressive and angry’ mother.” K.A. was removed from the home that day and was placed with her biological father. 

In August 2024, the ODHS completed its CPS assessment, and in September of that year, it issued a “founded” disposition for “mental injury” against Nicole Calaway. David Calaway was issued a similar ruling by ODHS. 

The lawsuit states, “A ‘founded child-abuse disposition is recorded by the agency and brands each of them a child abuser. It carries concrete, lasting consequences for each – including its effect on any employment, licensure, or volunteer activity that requires a child-abuse records check— wholly apart from the removal itself.”

In December 2025, ODHS “opened and completed a new CPS assessment against David” on an “entirely different and far graver theory.” A Notice of Child Protective Services Founded Disposition stated that he was found responsible for a “threat of harm” to K.A., stating that “The information gathered supports that you have a history of grooming and sexually abusing a minor, and despite this previous behavior and no attempts to mitigate it, you gained access to Kaitlyn. Your history placed Kaitlyn at risk of severe harm.”

“This second finding is false and unsupported. David has no history of grooming or sexually abusing any minor; no such conduct ever occurred; and the accusation is uncorroborated by any charge, conviction, adjudication, or competent evidence. Issued only after Plaintiffs had left Oregon and begun to seek vindication of their rights, the finding escalated the stigma imposed on David—from a ‘Mental Injury’ arising out of the family’s refusal to ‘affirm’ to a fabricated brand of child sexual predator—a designation of the gravest kind, carrying severe and lasting consequences for David’s reputation, employment, professional licensure, and ability to volunteer, wholly apart from the earlier Mental-Injury finding.”

The couple is alleging violations of their due process rights, material misrepresentations and omissions by authorities, violations of their First Amendment rights to free exercise of religion and free speech, and violations of their 14th Amendment rights to equal protection, among other claims for relief. The parents are seeking compensatory and general damages of at least $5 million, and an order expunging the “founded” findings from ODHS. 

Nicole Calaway said the findings from ODHS has had an affect on their lives, even when they moved out of state. “In Oregon, if they were to do a background check, I could have lost my notary license, I still cannot—even here—volunteer with the church, anything to do with children.”

David Calaway said of the ODHS’s later finding, “If I was being accused of sexual abuse, wouldn’t there be a police record? Wouldn’t I be arrested? Wouldn’t I be in jail?” Nicole added, “It’s like we’re guilty until proven innocent.”

Calaway v Forster by Hannah Nightingale