MARC WHEAT: Supreme Court Must Stand Up For Parental Rights

Thanks to a Gov. Gavin Newsom-backed law, a California mom and dad did not find out about their daughter’s deteriorating mental health until she attempted suicide. This tragic situation was forced upon this loving family by a California state law that forces school staff to facilitate students’ social transitions, as early as the fifth grade, and to withhold from parents this important information about their children.

The Supreme Court must address this problem. Parental rights cases that challenge public school gender policies have been brought in at least 10 of the 13 Federal Circuits.

Now the Supreme Court can again address this injustice. The most recent, Mirabelli v. Bonta, is a class action involving parents and teachers. The Supreme Court has a duty to protect American children by reiterating what it has already made clear: Parents have a fundamental right to direct the upbringing of their children.

Two Christian middle school teachers initiated the case after the Escondido Union School District refused their requests for religious exemptions. The district determined the privacy of the students to be more important than the religious convictions of the teachers. Thus, the district forced the teachers to use preferred pronouns and gender identities for kids while at school but required the teachers to use biologically accurate pronouns when communicating with parents.

Later, parents joined the suit, converting the case into a class action. The Poe family did not learn of their daughter’s deteriorating mental health, caused by the district’s social transition campaign, until she attempted suicide. Unable to afford private school, the Poe family transferred their daughter to another public school “expressly requesting notice of her gender expression.” The school refused.

Unable to escape the public school system, these parents have fewer rights. The right to direct the upbringing of your children should not depend on your financial ability to remove your children from public schools.