A Christian couple is suing the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) after the agency took custody of the wife’s teenage daughter because the couple refused to affirm her “transgender” identity, the Daily Signal reported Thursday.
ODHS accused David and Nicole Calaway of inflicting “mental injury” on the daughter and deemed them guilty of child abuse — decisions that continue to haunt them even after they moved to the other side of the country.
Transgender Transgression
Nicole Calaway is the mother of two daughters, both of whom identify as transgender. Prior to July 17, 2024, the younger daughter, referred to as K.A. in the lawsuit, had been seeing therapist Jennifer Forster. Forster allegedly believes in affirming a minor’s chosen gender identity, including by social transition.
The Calaways, on the other hand, do not. Wrote the Daily Signal:
According to the lawsuit, the Calaways refused to “affirm” K.A. as “transgender” due to their conservative Christian convictions that “a person cannot change from one sex to the other” and their view “that so-called ‘gender-affirming care’ — including ‘social transition’ — is harmful to children and teens and has never been proven safe or effective.”
The lawsuit cites the United Kingdom’s Cass Review and the [U.S.] Department of Health and Human Services’ study finding little evidence for positive impacts from sex-rejecting procedures.
The mother and stepfather did not simply express opposition to transgenderism; they presented facts to bolster their case. They showed K.A. numerous videos of others who agree with them, including detransitioners, “because I wanted her to make an informed decision. I did not want her to ruin her body,” said Nicole.
Custody Tattle
According to the Daily Signal:
On May 23, 2024, K.A. left school with a friend and did not notify her mother. She told school staff that she did not feel safe at home because her mother had showed her videos opposing transgender ideology the night before. School staff insisted she be taken to a stabilization center. Later, K.A. apologized to her mother and thanked her for helping her “acknowledge reality.”
On July 17, Nicole Calaway and K.A. spoke on the phone with Forster, and terminated her services. Both K.A. and her mother accused the therapist of hiding information from the mother.
According to the lawsuit, [Rachel] Woods, the ODHS caseworker, recommended that Forster call the Child Protective Services hotline shortly after this call. Forster called the hotline the next morning and made many claims the lawsuit describes as false.
The same day, ODHS and law-enforcement officers took K.A. from the Calaways’ home, alleging “mental injury.”
“Your adverse reactions to [K.A.] expressing their gender identity have caused serious harm to [K.A.’s] psychological functioning,” Woods told the Calaways in a letter.
K.A.’s older sister, also upset with her mother and stepfather’s stance on transgenderism, had already moved out.
“I was so distraught, it felt like I was gutted,” Nicole said. “Both my daughters were gone. I took myself to the hospital and admitted myself for a week because I couldn’t handle it.”
Abuse of Power
Although the Calaways moved to Florida in 2025, they haven’t escaped the consequences of ODHS’s actions — consequences that go far beyond the loss of K.A. and estrangement from both daughters.
The child-abuse finding means, among other things, that they are forbidden to do any volunteer work with children.
Furthermore, in late 2025, ODHS concluded that David Calaway had “exhibited a pattern of inappropriate grooming behaviors to include making inappropriate sexual comments while [K.A.] was in his care,” which could affect his employment (although it has not yet done so). David claims he is innocent of the charges, of which he was not even informed until five months after the finding had been made and which he had no opportunity to appeal.
“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?” he asked.
“It’s like we’re guilty until proven innocent,” said Nicole.
The Daily Signal reported:
The lawsuit states that ODHS had previously screened out one child abuse referral against the Calaways and found a second referral unfounded, both in 2023. K.A.’s father, Keith Allison, who sought custody of the daughter, claimed that K.A. was in immediate danger, but the court denied two of his motions in 2024.
“On essentially the same facts later used to remove K.A., a neutral court had twice declined to find immediate danger, and ODHS had already once found the mental-injury allegation unfounded,” the lawsuit states.
Although ODHS eventually withdrew the dependency petition that had allowed the agency to assume custody of K.A., it kept the child-abuse findings on the Calaways’ records.
Relief Pitch
The Calaways are suing both ODHS and Forster, claiming the two conspired to interfere with Nicole’s constitutional right to direct the care, custody, and upbringing of her daughter. They also allege that the defendants violated their rights to freedom of speech and religion, and accuse Forster of therapeutic malpractice for pushing “gender-affirming care” that she should have known “is not a proven, safe, or effective treatment for an adolescent girl and is psychologically harmful.” In addition, they say ODHS told school officials to deny Nicole access to K.A.’s school records without first obtaining a court order.
The couple is seeking a raft of relief, including $5 million in damages and an injunction removing them from child-abuse and sex-offender registries.
