Ruling allows teachers to inform parents of child's gender identity

A federal court ruling has affirmed the free speech and religious rights of California teachers who want to tell parents about how their child is expressing gender identity at school, a victory for conservatives and parent-rights advocates that stands to rewrite state school policies if upheld.

- HOWARD BLUME

Thomas More Society TEACHERS Lori Ann West, left, and Elizabeth Mirabelli filed a lawsuit to win the right to inform parents.

In his late December decision, U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez concluded that federal law allows school employees to notify parents of "gender incongruence." School staff members, he wrote, are free to make a personal decision to contact a parent with information about the possible LGBTQ+ identity of their child.

His court order also bars school districts from "misleading" parents related to "their child's gender presentation at school." School employees are prohibited from "directly lying to the parent, preventing the parent from accessing educational records of the child, or using a different set of preferred pronouns/names when speaking with the parents than is being used at school.”

“California public schools may be gun-free zones, but they are not First Amendment-free zones,” Benitez wrote in a 52-page ruling that accompanied the court order. “Religious teachers face an unlawful choice between sacrificing their faith and sacrificing their teaching position.”

He added: “Because the State Defendants’ parental exclusion policies ... demand that teachers communicate misrepresentations or deceptively avoidant responses to parental questions, which, in turn, violate the constitutional rights of parents, this type of government speech may not be forced upon teachers who conscientiously disagree.”

Critics characterized the outcome as a setback for student privacy and LGBTQ+ protections.

The Dec. 22 ruling undermines California’s longstanding efforts “to help ensure all students feel safe and respected at school, even if they are not ready or able to be out at home or are navigating a less-than-supportive family dynamic,” said Christine Parker, a senior staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union.

The state appealed the decision the same day it was issued.