A Massachusetts school district’s policy allowing students to request a different name and pronouns without parental notification does not infringe on parents’ constitutional right to direct the upbringing of their children, according to a ruling from a U.S. appeals court.
In a case that may be brought before the U.S. Supreme Court, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by the parents of a middle school student who identified as genderqueer without their knowledge.
The parents, Stephen Foote and Marissa Silvestri, challenged the nondisclosure policy adopted by the Ludlow School Committee, arguing it violated their due process rights under the 14th Amendment. They claimed the school staff had wrongfully concealed their 11-year-old’s gender identity and request to use different pronouns.
However, the three-judge panel, consisting of judges appointed by Democratic presidents, ruled that while parents have a fundamental right to be informed about significant aspects of their children’s lives, those rights are not unlimited. The panel stated that the policy did not constitute a violation of parental rights, as it aligned with Supreme Court precedent regarding school authority over educational matters.
The case is part of a broader national debate over school policies respecting the privacy of LGBTQ students, particularly transgender youth, and whether they infringe upon parental rights. The parents are considering petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court for a review, asserting that the lower court misunderstood the fundamental parental right at issue.
The court’s decision focused solely on the younger child’s case, noting that the complaint provided minimal details about the older sibling’s situation. The ruling was praised by the attorney for the Ludlow School Committee, who described it as a “well-reasoned opinion.”
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