SAN DIEGO – Parents have a constitutional right to be informed if their children socially transition their gender at school and teachers have a constitutional right to tell parents about the transition, a federal judge in Southern California ruled this week.
In a 52-page opinion handed down Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Roger Benitez said the case – Mirabelli v. Olson – presented four questions about a “parent’s right to information as against a public school’s policy of secrecy when it comes to a student’s gender identification.”
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Benitez asked in his ruling whether parents have rights to get gender information based in the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee to due process, and whether such information is allowed to be given to parents despite the First Amendment’s protection of the free exercise of religion. Further, he said, the court had to determine whether public school teachers have a right to tell parents — based in the teacher’s own free exercise of religion — or whether they have a right to tell parents based on their own free speech.
“In each case, this court concludes that, as a matter of law, the answer is ‘yes,’” the judge continued. “Parents have a right to receive gender information and teachers have a right to provide to parents accurate information about a child’s gender identity.”
The state filed an appeal and asked the court to pause the ruling in the meantime. State attorneys said the injunction could bring significant harm to students by having schools out them without their consent.
“The Court’s sweeping injunction, which forecloses enforcement of state constitutional and statutory protections applicable in the school environment, inflicts severe and indisputable irreparable harm on California,” lawyers with Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office wrote in their request.
“We believe that the district court misapplied the law and that the decision will ultimately be reversed on appeal,” a spokesperson for Bonta’s office said in an email Tuesday. “We are committed to securing school environments that allow transgender students to safely participate as their authentic selves while recognizing the important role that parents play in students’ lives.”
Monday’s decision caps a lawsuit filed in April 2023 by two now-former Escondido Union School District teachers, Elizabeth Mirabelli and Lori Ann West, who were aided by the Thomas More Society. Citing their Christian faith, the two challenged their district’s policy barring school employees from telling parents about a student’s transgender status without the student’s consent, arguing it violated their First Amendment rights.
The policy also required teachers to use a student’s chosen name and pronouns at school, but use the student’s legal name and biological pronouns when speaking with parents, according to the organization.
The Thomas More Society said the policy forced teachers to conceal a child’s new identity from their parents.
Also this week, a coalition of states, including California, filed a lawsuit challenging a recent action by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that seeks to restrict access to gender-affirming care for transgender youth.
In a statement, the ACLU of Southern California said the Mirabelli decision puts trans and gender nonconforming students at risk of being outed to their parents by their teachers and other school staff members. The ruling, the organization noted, also bars educators from using a student’s chosen name or pronouns if the student’s parent objects.
“Rather than focus on ensuring all students receive the best education they can, these efforts seek to exploit lack of familiarity with transgender people, spread misinformation, and disrupt trust within our school communities,” said Christine Parker, senior staff attorney with the Gender, Sexuality and Reproductive Justice Project at the ACLU Foundation of Southern California. “This case is part of a nationwide, coordinated attack on trans people and all those who stand up for trans youth.”
Equality California, a LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, said the ruling undermines laws that protect transgender students, including last year’s SAFETY Act.
“Judge Benitez’s dangerous ruling goes far beyond the SAFETY Act and broadly targets numerous California laws and protections for transgender and gender-nonconforming students – attempting to invalidate critical safeguards that prevent forced outing and allow educators to respect a student’s affirmed name and pronouns at school,” the organization’s executive director, Tony Hoang, said in a statement.
“These protections exist for one reason: to keep students safe and ensure schools remain places where young people can learn and thrive without fear,” Hoang added.
Meanwhile, officials with the California Policy Center, a Southern California-based libertarian and conservative nonprofit public policy think tank, heralded the ruling as a “historic win for parental rights and a devastating loss” for Gov. Gavin Newsom, Attorney General Rob Bonta and Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond.
“Parents’ constitutional right to direct the upbringing and education of their children cannot be overridden by state bureaucrats,” Lance Christensen, the organization’s vice president of Government Affairs and Education Policy, said in a statement.
“Judge Benitez issued a well-reasoned opinion that protects California parents, teachers and students,” added Emily Rae, president of the organization’s California Justice Center. “The ruling affirms that teachers cannot lie to parents about the gender identity of their own children.”
The San Diego Union Tribune contributed to this report.
