After the Oklahoma Department of Education learned that a 16-year-old transgender boy had gotten a court order to update his gender to male on all of his official records, the agency quickly moved to create a rule to prevent the change. Ryan Walters, the combative far-right state superintendent who often promotes “parents’ rights,” said the state was not going to “play the transgender game.”

But the teen and his family are fighting back, with a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the rule. In exclusive interviews with NBC News, the teen’s parents say Walters has interfered with their rights, and the 16-year-old says he just wants to be left alone so he can live a normal life.

“It’s hard enough to get supportive parents; once you achieve that, you are lucky enough,” he said. “It shouldn’t be a challenge with the government, too.”