Judge Michael Maxwell ruled that the policy violated parents’ fundamental right to direct their child’s care. Judge Michael Maxwell ruled that the policy violated the fundamental parental right to direct the care of their child.
Maxwell found that the issue of gender identity at school is “undisputedly” a medical and healthcare issue that “directly implicates” an infringement against fundamental parental rights. Maxwell stated that since a fundamental parental right was at stake, a school policy had to pass strict scrutiny. Maxwell concluded that a school policy did not pass strict scrutiny, because it failed to provide “any evidence” that justified overriding the parent’s decision on how to treat their child medically. The parents filed a summary judgment motion in February to prevent the school from using this policy. Maxwell granted the parents’ motion for summary judgement. Maxwell’s order of Tuesday prohibits the school “from allowing or requiring that staff refer to students by a name or using pronouns that are at odds with their biological sex while at school without parental consent.”
The Alliance for Defending Freedom (a conservative legal group) who assisted the parents in this case, celebrated the decision, stating, “
This is a significant victory for parental rights.” The court determined that it is the parents’ right, and not teachers or school faculty members, to determine whether a social change is in their child’s best interest. The decision should be a warning to the many districts across the country with similar policies to exclude parents from gender transitions at school.
Earlier this year,
Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ+ rights group,
declared a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people in the US in a report that highlights the steep increase in laws and harassment targeting the LGBTQ+ community.