In a significant victory for parental rights, the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed a lower court’s injunction to go into effect blocking California school policies that required educators to withhold information from parents about their children’s gender transitions at school. AMAC Action was proud to join an amicus brief in Mirabelli v. Bonta urging the Court to protect the fundamental right of parents to direct the upbringing of their children.
At issue in the case were so-called “parental exclusion policies” adopted by a California school district that prohibited teachers and staff from notifying parents if their child was being socially transitioned at school. As the district court explained, the policies were designed to “create a zone of secrecy” around students expressing confusion about their gender.
The consequences were not theoretical. One family in the case did not discover that their daughter was being treated as a boy at school until after she attempted suicide. Parents and teachers challenged the policy as a violation of both the First Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment.
In its decision, the Supreme Court vacated the Ninth Circuit’s stay of the district court’s injunction, concluding that the parents were likely to succeed on the merits of their constitutional claims. The Court emphasized that California’s policy likely interfered with “the rights of parents to guide the religious development of their children” and that parents are likely to suffer “irreparable harm” if excluded from consequential decisions about their children’s mental health and wellbeing.
Citing longstanding precedent, the Court reiterated that “the fundamental theory of liberty upon which all governments in this Union repose excludes any general power of the State to standardize its children.” It further reaffirmed that “the Fourteenth Amendment protects the fundamental right of parents to make decisions concerning the care, custody, and control of their children.”
AMAC Action joined an amicus brief led by Advancing American Freedom and supported by dozens of organizations nationwide, arguing that “no parents should have to fear that their children might attempt suicide after being secretly indoctrinated in school.”
The brief underscored that parental rights are “deeply rooted in American history and tradition” and essential to ordered liberty.
Importantly, this ruling signals more than just a temporary procedural victory. While the case will continue through the lower courts, the Supreme Court’s decision makes clear that policies excluding parents from critical decisions about their children’s identity and mental health raise serious constitutional concerns. It also indicates that the Court is prepared to robustly defend parental rights against state overreach.
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