Recent litigation points to parents’ rising frustrations with gender and sexuality curricula in public schools.
With active litigation on both coasts embroiling school districts in controversies over gender and sexuality issues, this academic year promises major battles in American public education.
First came a decision from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which reviewed a Maryland case in which parents challenged Montgomery County Public Schools’ “Guidelines for Gender Identity.” The guidelines feature a “gender support plan for students,” which includes “affirming” a child’s preferred name, pronouns, and other gender-related preferences, and authorizes schools to “withhold information about the plans from parents if the school deems the parents to be unsupportive.” Under longstanding Supreme Court doctrine that gives parents a constitutional right to raise their children, the parents sued.
