Moms for Liberty Sues New Jersey School District for Hiding ‘Gender Transitions’ From Parents
Moms for Liberty filed a lawsuit challenging a New Jersey school district policy of hiding a student’s “gender transition” from his or her parents.
The suit, filed by Thomas More Society, involves the School District of the Chathams’ (SDOC) “Gender Identity and Expression Policy,” which allows school employees to hide a child’s sexual identity confusion from parents.
As Thomas More Society pointed out in both a letter to the district and its lawsuit, the policy violates parents’ constitutional rights, as affirmed by two recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings: Mahmoud v. Taylor and Mirabelli v. Bonta.
But the SDOC Board of Education thumbed its nose at those decisions. After parents’ expressed concern about the legality of the “gender” guidance, Policy 5145.7, Board President Ann Ciccarelli responded:
The Board of Education is required to adhere to State and federal law. The United States Supreme Court decision, Mirabelli, is not binding on public school districts in New Jersey.
The Catholic legal aid firm argued and won the Mirabelli case, in a 6-3 per curiam decision where the Court ruled against similar “transgender” school policies in California.
The organization said the school board is flat-out wrong.
The Court ruled that parents have “the right not to be shut out of participation in decisions regarding their children’s mental health.” This would include serious issues like sexual identity confusion – where a child rejects his or her sex and fantasizes that they can somehow become the opposite sex.
Since then, Thomas More Society has pledged to help enforce the ruling “across the country by taking legal action and giving parents the tools to protect their families today.”
In announcing this case against the SDOC Board of Education, the organization has launched its nationwide campaign to shut down transgender secrecy policies, as Senior Counsel Christopher Ferrara stated:
When Thomas More Society prevailed at the Supreme Court, we made a promise: any school board or district that kept hiding a child’s so-called ‘gender transition’ from parents, or that punished kids for refusing to bow down to an ideology they don’t believe,would be held accountable.
Thomas More Society explained that SDOC’s Policy 5145.7 “violates the First Amendment’s Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses and the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause by”:
• Permitting school counselors to withhold a student’s asserted “gender transition” from parents.
• Permitting mixed-sex participation in sports, locker rooms, and changing facilities without advance notice to parents.
• Compelling students and parents to use a classmate’s chosen name and pronouns.
• Allowing students to be referred to outside “pro-LGBTQ” advocacy organizations without parental notice or consent.
The lawsuit asks the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey to stop the gender policy:
Moms for Liberty is asking the court to declare Policy 5145.7 unconstitutional and to enjoin its enforcement unless the district amends it to require parental notice and consent before any social transition, name or pronoun change, mixed-sex sports or use of facilities, or referral to outside advocacy groups.
More than 12,300 schools across the country have transgender secrecy policies, affecting more than 12.3 million students, the parents’ rights organization Defending Education reported.
Tina Descovich, CEO and co-founder of Moms for Liberty, explained what’s at stake when schools usurp parental rights:
Parents are the primary educators and caregivers of their children, not school boards, not counselors, and not ideologues pushing secret gender transitions behind closed doors. The Chathams Board of Education’s open defiance of the Supreme Court’s clear rulings in Mirabelli and Mahmoud is an assault on the constitutional rights of every family in that district.
She added:
Moms for Liberty will not stand by while schools hide life-altering decisions from parents or persuade children to affirm an ideology that violates their conscience and faith.
Thomas More Society offers a model letter which parents can use to notify their school district of a sincerely held belief and identify the instruction or materials they want their child excluded from.
Parents with children in districts with “Parental Exclusion Policies” can request legal help from Thomas More Society, which also provides guidance for school districts.
To find out if your district has a “Transgender/Gender Nonconforming Policy” that violates parents’ and children’s constitutional rights, check out this list at Defending Education, or search your local district’s website.
Related articles and resources:
Barrett v. Kagan: Key Takeaways From Supreme Court Ruling on ‘Transgender’ School Policies
Blockbuster Supreme Court Ruling: Girls Sports Are for Girls
California Teachers Told to Hide Information About Students’ ‘Gender’ From Parents – They’re Suing
California Schools May Not Hide Students’ ‘Gender Identity’ From Parents
Exclusive Interview: Colorado Parents Expose ‘Gender Cult’ at Public School in New Documentary
Legal Aid Groups Demand Virginia Schools Comply With Title IX, Supreme Court Decisions
Maryland Teacher to U.S. Supreme Court: Strike Down Policy ‘Requiring Educators Lie’ to Parents
Supreme Court Affirms Parents’ Rights Over California’s ‘Transgender’ School Policies
Supreme Court Defends Religious Freedom, Parental Rights Over ‘LGBT’ Curriculum
What’s Your School District’s ‘Transgender’ Policy?
