U.S. Federal Appeals Court rules that Maryland School District can continue to Transition Students without Notifying Parents

The U.S. Court of Appeals recently dismissed a case that was brought by parents of students at Montgomery County Public Schools. The district has been implementing “gender support plans” which includes safe spaces and support networks for transitioning students. This means parents aren’t informed about their children’s preferred pronouns, athletics, extracurriculars, or bathroom/locker room use. The parents argued that this policy violated their Fourteenth Amendment rights. While the judge noted the persuasiveness of their arguments, the case was dismissed because the parents didn’t have transgender children themselves so were not affected by the “gender support plans”. Unfortunately, this decision leaves students at risk and parents in the dark.  

U.S. Circuit Judge A. Marvin Quattlebaum said the parents' opposition to the guidelines didn't give them standing in the case and rendered it a "policy disagreement" because they didn't allege their children had gender support plans of their own. 

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