5 minPolitics
New Jersey school district sued over policy allowing gender identity changes without parental notice
A New Jersey school district faces a lawsuit over a policy that lets students change their name and gender identity at school without notifying parents, with plaintiffs arguing it defies recent Supreme Court rulings on parental rights.
A New Jersey school district is facing a lawsuit over a policy that allows students to change their name and gender identity at school without notifying their parents, a practice the plaintiffs say conflicts with recent Supreme Court rulings affirming parental rights.
The School District of the Chathams permits students to change their name in official school records and use bathrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity. Under the policy, a school guidance counselor decides «whether, and to what extent» parents are involved in the decision.
The lawsuit, filed Aug. 24, was brought by the Thomas More Society on behalf of Moms for Liberty, Moms for America, and two anonymous parents of elementary school-aged daughters. The plaintiffs accuse the district of violating First Amendment rights to free speech and religious liberty, as well as the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment.
Christopher Ferrara, senior counsel for the Thomas More Society, said the policy conflicts with the Supreme Court's ruling in Mirabelli v. Bonta. In March, the Court granted an injunction against California over state policies that keep students' gender identities confidential from parents while the issue moves through lower courts.
«The court has made clear in the Mirabelli case, and the Third Circuit has a decision along the same lines, that parents have standing to challenge a policy like this, which would hide a gender transition from the parents, whether or not the child is actually transitioning,» Ferrara said. «The Supreme Court indicated that the reason parents have standing is that the parents are the objects of this policy.»
Ferrara argued that the policy poses risks for students who are not seeking to transition, as they could be forced to share locker rooms and bathrooms with members of the opposite sex. He also said parents who have spoken out against the policy have faced threats and intimidation, with one family requiring police security outside their home.
«This is what happens when you oppose these policies,» Ferrara said. «You basically are going to be subjected to a vicious public backlash by ideologues who are totally intolerant of basically the normal point of view on this issue.»
Tina Descovich, CEO and founder of Moms for Liberty, alleged that students who refuse to use other students' preferred pronouns could face disciplinary action under the school's code of conduct.
«They have a policy in the school district that will actually punish children that don't use the demanded new gender identity pronoun and name of another student,» Descovich said. «They can do that just one time on accident and they can be punished up to suspension just for using the wrong pronoun or the wrong name of someone that is identifying as something other than they actually are.»
The lawsuit also accuses the district of violating parental rights affirmed in the Supreme Court's ruling in Mahmoud v. Taylor, which determined that parents can opt their children out of LGBT-centered lessons.
«The Supreme Court has ruled twice on these issues,» Descovich said. «We know that parents have to have a right to opt out of things that violate their religious beliefs.»
The legal action follows a June 15 school board meeting in which Ann Ciccarelli, president of the Chatham School District Board of Education, said the district was not legally bound by the Mirabelli decision and instead was required to follow the New Jersey Department of Education's 2018 guidance on transgender students.
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin has acknowledged that Policy 5756 is not mandatory, according to NJ Spotlight News.
«The guidance violates both Maribel and it violates Mahmood and so you know there's a lot of crossover and confusion here but what it comes down to is the school board the school has a duty and responsibility to protect constitutional rights of the citizens in its community of its employees of its students of its families and it is not doing that,» Descovich said.
Fox News Digital reached out to School District of the Chathams for comment but did not receive a response.
