Right to Privacy of Sexual Preference

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: John Doe v. Adam Gray

Case No.: 22-1501

Officials: Flaum, Rovner, and Brennan, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Right to Privacy of Sexual Preference

Doe is a transgender male, originally assigned female at birth, who underwent breast-removal surgery but did not pursue any other gender-altering procedures. A.B. is Doe’s partner and the mother of R.M., along with four other children. Starke County Detective Gray and Purtee, a family case manager with the Indiana Department of Child Services, conducted an investigation following allegations that Doe and A.B. had abandoned 17-year-old R.M. As a result of the investigation, Doe and A.B. were arrested and faced charges of neglect of a dependent and nonsupport of a dependent child. Throughout the interviews and legal proceedings, it was revealed that Doe had been born female.

Following the resolution of the charges through deferred prosecution agreements, Doe and A.B. filed a lawsuit against Detective Gray, the Sheriff’s Department, and Purtee under 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging violations of Doe’s right to privacy in regards to sexual preference under the Fourteenth Amendment and claiming that they were arrested without probable cause, which would be contrary to the Fourth Amendment. Later on, they sought to amend their complaint to clarify that Doe’s Fourteenth Amendment claim was related to the disclosure of gender identity rather than sexual preference. However, the district court denied the motion to amend and issued a summary judgment. The Seventh Circuit upheld the decision, stating that the defendants were entitled to qualified immunity, as there is no clearly established right to privacy in one’s sexual preference or gender identity during criminal or child welfare investigations. Moreover, the totality of the circumstances provided probable cause for the arrests.

Affirmed.

Decided 07/28/23

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