Sage Blair: Appomattox Teen and Mother Invited to State of the Union as Litigation and Safety Claims Loom Large

Appomattox locals have been named as guests for Tuesday's State of the Union in Washington, D. C., thrusting sage blair back into the national conversation as litigation and claims about school handling of gender identity, bullying and a subsequent abduction and sex-trafficking ordeal remain active.

Sage Blair invited to the State of the Union

One account identifies Michele and Sage Blair as guests invited to attend Tuesday's State of the Union address in Washington, D. C. Another account notes that Sage Blair is expected to attend the speech alongside her mother, Michelle Blair. The invitations highlight the family's prominence in an ongoing legal dispute tied to school decisions and parental rights.

Who Is Sage Blair?

Sage Blair is a Virginia teen whose legal case centers on allegations involving school officials and parental rights. The case has been filed as ongoing litigation and has been described in legal briefs as involving school decisions that affected Sage's safety and welfare at school without notifying or involving her parent.

Allegations detailed in the 2023 lawsuit

The 2023 brief filed by Michele alleges that school officials concealed information about Sage’s gender identity and bullying, conduct the filing says contributed to Sage's decision to run away. The brief alleges a sequence of events beginning when a science teacher overheard Sage tell a friend she wanted to be referred to by a male name and pronouns.

The brief alleges that a school counselor spoke to Sage when she was a freshman, that Sage said she identifies as a boy, and that the counselor spoke to Sage before contacting her family. The complaint alleges that the counselor told S. B., described in the brief as a diminutive 14-year-old girl with mental health issues, that if she identified as a boy she could use the male restroom at school. The brief also alleges Sage told the counselor that her parents were not supportive of her gender identity.

Attorneys for the plaintiff wrote that the counselor "took the statement from a 14-year-old with significant mental health issues at face value, did not inform Mrs. Blair, and agreed to use S. B. ’s given name and female pronouns when speaking with Mrs. Blair, but use the male name and pronouns at school, so as to deceive Mrs. Blair as to how S. B. was being treated at school. " The brief also alleges that Mrs. Blair was not informed of reports of bullying and sexual harassment by male classmates.

Claims of abduction, rape and sex trafficking

The complaint says that after learning Sage had been using the boys' bathroom, Sage "had a psychotic breakdown and ran away. " Michele said that after Sage ran away, she was kidnapped, raped and sex-trafficked across state lines. The brief states that Sage was "abducted and raped by an adult male stranger and subsequently taken across state lines to Washington DC and Maryland and raped and drugged repeatedly by multiple men, " allegations included in the court filings.

The brief further alleges that after Sage was found, the school counselor testified about Michelle Blair's "failure" to support her daughter's "assertion of a male gender identity, " even though Michelle did not learn of that assertion until hours before Sage ran away. The brief says Sage was separated from Michelle for many months.

Responses in court and the broader policy backdrop

Attorneys for the school counselor replied in court that the plaintiffs "do not point the Court to any authority" that the counselor "had an affirmative constitutional duty to inform Blair of S. B. ’s decision to identify as a male. " The counselor's attorneys also said the complaint "does not factually link" the counselor's "alleged concealment of information from Blair and testimony in Maryland juv"—a portion of the reply that is truncated in the provided material and thus unclear in the provided context.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt reposted an article on a social platform and included a quote describing Sage as a young person separated from parents at age 14 after school officials allegedly attempted to transition her to a male. Separately, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on January 20, 2025, stating that gender identity "cannot be recognized as a replacement for sex, " and defining sex as "not changeable" and "grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality. " The invitation of Sage and her mother to the State of the Union intersects with that policy environment.

Local representation and national conversation

Vernadette Broyles, who represents Michele through the Child & Parental Rights Campaign, said in a press release that the invitation to the State of the Union address "highlights the national conversation on putting parental involvement and child safety first. " The family’s legal claims and the invitation have placed the Appomattox case into a broader debate over parental rights and school practices.

Details in this situation remain tied to ongoing litigation and public statements; some elements are developing and may evolve as court proceedings and public responses continue.