WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� The Supreme Court cleared the way Monday for California schools to tell parents if their children identify as transgender without getting the student’s approval, granting an emergency appeal from a conservative legal group.
The order blocks for now a that bans automatic parental notification requirements if students change their pronouns or gender expression at school.
The split decision comes after religious parents and educators challenged California school policies aimed at preventing schools from outing students to their families. Two sets of Catholic parents represented by the Thomas More Society say it caused schools to mislead them and secretly facilitate the children’s social transition despite their objections.
California, on the other hand, argued that students have the right to privacy about their gender expression, especially if they fear rejection from their families. The state said that school policies and state law are aimed at striking a balance with parents鈥� rights.
The high court majority, though, sided with the parents and reinstated a lower-court order blocking the law and school policies while the case continues to play out.
鈥淭he parents who assert a free exercise claim have sincere religious beliefs about sex and gender, and they feel a religious obligation to raise their children in accordance with those beliefs. California鈥檚 policies violate those beliefs,鈥� and burden the free exercise of religion, the majority wrote in an unsigned order.
The court’s three liberal justices publicly dissented, saying the case is still working its way through lower courts and there was no need to step in now. 鈥淚f nothing else, this Court owes it to a sovereign State to avoid throwing over its policies in a slapdash way, if the Court can provide normal procedures. And throwing over a State鈥檚 policy is what the Court does today,鈥� Justice Elena Kagan wrote.
Conservative Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, meanwhile, noted they would have gone further and granted teachers’ appeal to lift restrictions for them.
The Thomas More Society called the decision 鈥渢he most significant parental rights ruling in a generation.鈥�
California Gov. Gavin 海角社区appom’s office defended the law, saying teachers should be focused on instruction, not required 鈥渢o be gender cops.鈥�
The order 鈥渦ndermines student privacy and the ability to learn in a safe and supportive classroom, free from discrimination based on gender identity,鈥� said Marissa Saldivar, a spokesperson for the Democratic governor.
The Supreme Court has ruled for religious plaintiffs in other recent cases, including allowing parents to pull their children from public-school lessons if they object to storybooks with .
The California order comes months after the on gender-identity-related healthcare for minors. The justices also seem to be leaning toward allowing states to ban transgender athletes from playing on girls sports teams.
School policies for transgender students, meanwhile, have also been on the court鈥檚 radar in other cases.
The court rebuffed another similar in December, but three conservative justices indicated they would have heard the case. Justice Samuel Alito called the school policies 鈥渁n issue of great and growing national importance.鈥�
The justices have been weighing whether to hear arguments in cases out of states like and filed by other parents who say schools facilitated social transition without informing them.
The Trump administration, meanwhile, found in January that violated parents’ right to access their children’s education records. The Justice Department also sued after determining the states’ transgender athlete policies violate federal civil rights law.
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