The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear a bid backed by conservative Christian law groups challenging a Maryland school district's policy of not informing parents that their child is transgender or gender nonconforming.
The justices rejected an appeal by three parents whose children attend public schools in Montgomery County, a suburb of Washington, against a lower court ruling that said they lacked legal standing to challenge the policy. The plaintiffs are represented by the Virginia-based National Law Foundation.
Transgender rights issues have become a flash point in the culture wars in the United States. As part of this, conservative litigants and parent groups are challenging school policies that seek to honor transgender students' requests that their parents not “out” them without their consent. , has filed lawsuits in various jurisdictions in the United States.
The policy in question, adopted by the Montgomery County Board of Education for the 2020-2021 school year, requires schools to develop gender support plans for students so that they can “feel safe expressing their gender identity.” I admit it.
The policy directs school staff to help transgender and gender nonconforming students develop a plan that accommodates preferred pronouns, names, bathrooms, etc., and staff informs parents of the plan without the student's consent. It is forbidden to do so.
The plaintiffs, a mother and two fathers, filed a lawsuit in 2020 alleging that the school district's policies violate their 14th Amendment due process rights to direct the care of their children. I woke you up.
U.S. District Judge Paul Grimm dismissed the case in 2022, and a three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Richmond, Virginia, voted 2-1 in 2023. Upholding the dismissal, it found the parents' case to be “persuasive.” Despite their claims, they had no standing to pursue their claims.
Judge A. Marvin Quattlebaum, writing for the 4th Circuit majority, opens in a new tab
, citing the absence of any claims that the children of these parents are transgender. There are issues with gender identification. Or a “gender support plan” that mentions, among other things, what name, pronouns, and toilet to use.
Quattlebaum, an appointee of former Republican President Donald Trump, said this means the plaintiffs failed to provide facts showing that the school had information about the children that could be withheld from the school. Stated.
That flaw turned their opposition into nothing more than a “policy disagreement,” Quattlebaum said.
“And policy disagreements should be directed to elected policymakers at the polls, not to unelected judges on courts,” Quattlebaum wrote.
On appeal, the parents argued that the Fourth Circuit's decision misread U.S. Supreme Court precedent on the legal position and contradicted decisions by other federal appeals courts. The parents also asked the judge to determine not only whether they have standing to sue, but also whether the school's policy violates their fundamental rights, saying, “This issue persists.” said.
“Furthermore, this lawsuit raises questions of merit that have upset parents and school districts from Maine to California,” they write in the petition, opens in a new tab
To the judges. “It is important for parents, children and public schools alike to address and resolve this issue now.”
The district said its policy is aimed at providing schools with a safe and welcoming environment where all students feel included. The district said that while this policy encourages parental involvement whenever possible, it reflects the reality that in some cases, students are unable to openly express their gender identity at home due to concerns about safety or acceptance. He said that
