In the past few years, school districts nationwide have quietly adopted policies requiring staff to facilitate and “affirm” gender identity transitions at school without parental notice or consent—and even in secret from parents. Certain groups are telling school boards and administrators that excluding parents from the decision about whether staff will treat their child as the opposite sex is not only best practice but required by law. Neither is true. Such policies fly in the face of how schools treat every other decision of similar significance.
From a legal perspective, these policies violate parents’ constitutional rights to raise their children. They also conflict with science. Many professionals in the field believe that transitioning at a young age can become self-reinforcing and do long-term harm. And these policies divide children against parents, communicating to kids that their parents’ decisions should not be respected.
As parents become aware of these policies, some through personal experience, many are wondering what can be done. Fortunately, parents can raise strong objections with their school boards and administrators, which may persuade them to change course. If that doesn’t work, these policies are vulnerable to legal challenge. Finally, there is a relatively simple legislative fix: Lawmakers can, and should, prohibit public schools from taking this major decision out of parents’ hands.