opinion
Written by Casey Harper (Center Square)
A Wisconsin mother is criticizing a school policy that allows students to use bathrooms and locker rooms according to their chosen gender identity without public discussion from parents.
Parents brought a legal challenge to this policy in Doe v. Bethel Local School District Board of Education, which is now being considered by a federal appeals court.
The controversial case could reach the Supreme Court given the growing national interest in the topic and the wave of similar policies and challenges they face in schools across the country.
Alliance Defending Freedom, the religious liberty group involved in the case, filed a brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit this week on behalf of Tammy Fournier, the mother in question.
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Fournier's child was not involved in this latest case, but in another similar case, Fournier sued her child's school after it implemented a policy of changing students' names and pronouns without parental consent.
A Wisconsin court ruled in Fournier's favor last fall, but similar policies remain in effect in schools across the country.
Now, Fournier is speaking out about Doe's case, one of a growing number of parents taking their children's schools to court and speaking out.
“Many other school districts have policies that enable school personnel to decide whether to treat children as the opposite sex,” the brief said. “These policies often do not require parental notification or consent; in fact, they often prohibit disclosure of school district decisions to a minor student's parents without the student's permission.
Supporters of transgender policies say they protect students who are going through a difficult transition.
Opponents say parents have a right to know what's going on and to have the final say when it comes to their children.
“Parents have a fundamental right to direct their children’s upbringing, education and health care,” ADF lawyer Vincent Wagner said in a statement.
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These cases indicate a national trend, Wagner said.
“School districts across the country are increasingly violating parents’ rights by excluding them from key decisions about their children,” Wagner said. “Increasingly, school districts are adopting policies that require school personnel to treat children as the opposite sex — in many cases, without parental consent or even notice.
He added: “But the Constitution protects the fundamental right of parents to make decisions about how to care for their children and the right to access the information necessary to make such decisions.”
Published with permission from Center Square.
