Summary of facts: Public school officials in Ludlow, Massachusetts enacted a “gender-identity” policy that excludes parents from any knowledge or involvement in key decisions regarding their children’s care. They disregarded parents’ instructions not to discuss “gender-identity” issues with their children, and interfered with the parents’ decision-making through secret online discussions in which a counselor suggested that the children were not safe with their parents. Another staff member actively promoted children’s social transitioning. The parents of two children sued in federal court, alleging a violation of their constitutional rights (1) to direct the upbringing of their children; (2) to make medical and mental-health decisions for their children; and (3) familial privacy. The district court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss, concluding that school officials’ alleged actions did not rise to the level of a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed that dismissal. The parents are now asking the Supreme Court to hear their case.

RFI’s position: No parent should have their children indoctrinated in school. In Mahmoud v. Taylor, the Supreme Court held that the rights of religious parents are violated when schools condition public education on a parents’ “willingness to surrender” their religious views. The fundamental right to raise one’s children consistent with one’s beliefs belongs to all parents. When schools seek to socially transition a child without affirmative consent from the child’s parents, they violate those parents’ rights. Compounding the injustice, in many instances, including here, the school actively seeks to conceal from parents that their rights are being violated. Schools around the country in recent years have sought to replace parents’ judgment about what is best for their children. This Court should grant review in this case and affirm the right of all parents to raise their children according to their own convictions.

Read the brief here.