Parental rights advocate hopes to take gender transition notification fight to Supreme Court
‘If a child is choosing to live as the opposite gender at school, then the school needs to contact the parents,’ Karen England says.
A coalition of 17 state attorneys general are asking the Supreme Court to recognize parental rights in a case involving a Maryland school district’s transgender policies.
West Virginia is leading the coalition challenging a case involving parents fighting an appeals court ruling that found they did not have the right to sue Montgomery County Public Schools over a policy that allows teachers and administrators to transition children without their parents’ knowledge or consent.
Plaintiffs in the case dubbed the guideline in question the "Parental Preclusion Policy," which their lawyers with the National Legal Foundation argued was a violation of their rights under the Fourteenth Amendment.
The guidelines for transgender-identifying students adopted by the Montgomery County Board of Education in 2020-2021, address a student's identified name, pronouns, athletics, extracurricular activities, locker rooms, bathrooms, "safe spaces, safe zones, and other safety supports."
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, left, speaks about the inaugural meeting of the West Virginia First Foundation.
In August, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit dismissed the case brought by three parents of students at Montgomery County Public Schools over the district's "gender support plan" in a 2 to 1 ruling.
In addition to allowing students to be called by their preferred name and pronoun and use the restroom of their choice, schools are also prohibited from notifying parents without the student’s consent.
"Prior to contacting a student’s parent/guardian, the principal or identified staff member should speak with the student to ascertain the level of support the student either receives or anticipates receiving from home," the guidelines state.
"This egregious policy completely sidesteps parents’ rights and severs them from having involvement in their child’s physical, emotional, mental and social well-being," West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said in a statement announcing the move. "Any time any organization or institution seeks to hide what they do when our children are in their care, it’s a huge red flag. Why would a school board encourage students to keep secrets from their parents?"
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey speaks with reporters to announce a $68 million settlement with the Kroger pharmacy chain over its role in perpetuating the opioid crisis, during a news conference at the state Capitol in Charleston, W.Va., May 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean, File)
The coalition wrote in their brief that "‘…the oldest of the fundamental liberty interests recognized by the Court’ [is] the right of parents to direct the care and custody of their children."
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"Parents must have the right to ask for the courts’ help in securing the fundamental right to know what schools are doing with our kids," the brief continued.
Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Virginia joined the West Virginia-led brief.