A group of conservative parents is suing a Wisconsin school board for allowing their kids to change their identified gender at school without permission.
If you're a transgender student living in the Midwest, you could do worse than going to school in the Madison Metropolitan School District. In 2018, the school district adopted a set of guidelines designed to help transgender and questioning kids by ensuring they remain safe and that the school remains an accepting environment. Part of how the school ensures a student's safety is by determining if the possibly trans student has any support at home or if their parents are deeply against transitioning.
According to a new lawsuit recently filed in Dane County Circuit Court by a group of conservative parents, the school district even went so far as allowing the student to use whatever pronoun they wish in class, but still use their assigned gender when communicating with parents. This was done, according to the suit, in order to fool parents and keep them from addressing their child's gender dysphoria.
The suit was filed Tuesday by 14 parents with lawyers from the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL), a conservative legal group that demanded Madison School District change its guidelines regarding trans students to inform parents. The school refused, responding in December that the district remained "dedicated to creating an inclusive and welcoming learning environment” for all students regardless of gender identity.
WILL contends that cutting parents out of the loop violates a parent's rights under the constitution to direct a child's health treatment and religious upbringing. Eleven of the suing parents are Christian, writing in court documents that the "sex each of us is born with is a gift, not an arbitrary imposition."
Part of the group’s argument is that experts are still divided on the proper course of treatment for gender dysphoria, writing that “affirming a child’s alternate gender identity too quickly can 'reinforce' and 'solidify' gender dysphoria that otherwise might resolve itself."
Trans and genderqueer groups argue that outing a student to their parents can be catastrophic, according to Brian Juchems, co-director of GSAFE, an organization helping schools support LGBTQ students. Many transgender students are kicked out of their homes after their parents find out.
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Channel 3000