Vernadette Broyles
This content was last updated Nov. 15, 2023, 12:01 a.m. UTC
Vernadette Broyles
Vernadette Broyles is an American attorney in Georgia, and the president, general counsel and founder of the Child and Parental Rights Campaign (CPRC), an anti-transgender advocacy and activism group that uses medical misinformation to describe transgender youth as “an artificial social construct,” and gender identity as a “dangerous ideology.”
Broyles has been involved in a number of anti-transgender lawsuits, most notably federal case Littlejohn v. School Board of Leon County. Though the suit was dismissed in January of 2023, it served as the foundational inspiration for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
Broyles has also associated herself with multiple known anti-transgender organizations, such as right wing legal action organization Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), Charles Koch-funded conservative political group Independent Women’s Forum (IWF), and conservative political interest group Eagle Forum.
While there may be a constitutional right to refuse to carry a child to term (under Roe), there is no constitutional right to chemically and surgically mutilating one’s healthy body, where there is no disease to be treated—that is child abuse.
Education and Work
Broyles graduated from Yale University in 1987 with a Bachelor of Sciences degree in Biology. She went on to attend Harvard Law School from 1992 to 1995, where she earned her Juris Doctor, according to LinkedIn.
Broyles has worked as a prosecutor with the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office and as a litigator with the Atlanta law firms of Shreeder, Wheeler, & Flint, and Hunton & Williams. From 2003 to 2008, she was a board member for the Georgia Department of Human Services, where she chaired the The Georgia Division of Family & Children Services (DFCS) committee.
Secretive Anti-Transgender Working Group
Though Broyles’ public involvement in anti-transgender court cases began in 2021, the March 2023 correspondence leak from Elisa Rae Shupe revealed that Broyles has been involved behind the scenes in anti-transgender action since as early as 2019, when she and seventeen other anti-transgender political activists and donors corresponded with South Dakota Republican state representative Fred Deutsch via email about Deutsch’s efforts to ban youth transition in the state.
Much of the language used by Broyles and her cohort in these e-mails demonstrates Christian nationalist beliefs, stating that “the children of South Dakota belong to him,” meaning a Christian God, and suggesting that Deutsch would be God’s representative in court. Though Deutsch’s bill failed to pass, Broyles and the rest of the working group viewed the opportunity as the first step in a longer legislative battle against transgender youth.
Representing or Counseling anti-trans Parents
In October of 2021, Broyles’ law firm CPRC filed a suit against the School Board of Leon County, Florida, on behalf of January and Jeffrey Littlejohn. The suit was ultimately dismissed in federal court (though it may still be appealed by the Littlejohns and CPRC), but it inspired one of Florida’s most contentious anti-LGBTQ+ bills, the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. There is evidence to suggest that Broyles’ law firm provided direct input on the language of the bill.
In January of 2022, CPRC filed suit against Clay County Schools in Florida for allegedly concealing a child’s gender identity discussions with a guidance counselor from their parents. Clay County Schools’ legal representatives have since filed a motion to dismiss the suit due to information that cannot be publicly disclosed because of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), but the case is ongoing as of June, 2023.
Broyles also represents Jamie Reed of St. Louis, Missouri, who delivered a sworn affidavit to Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey regarding her employment at the Washington University Pediatric Transgender Center between 2018 and 2022. In her affidavit, Reed alleged that the Center rushed young patients through the process of acquiring puberty halting medication and hormone replacement therapy, and even recommending surgery to some young patients. Many Washington University patients directly disputed Reed’s claims.
Bailey announced an investigation into the Washington University Pediatric Transgender Center. Shortly thereafter, Reed sought out Boyles and CPRC as legal counsel. Despite it’s lack of corroborating evidence, Reed’s affidavit has been used to justify anti-transgender legislation that restricts youth transition, young transgender athletes, and even adult transition in Missouri.