Coalition backs parental rights lawsuit over California transgender student policy

A coalition of lawmakers, state attorneys general, and advocacy groups filed dozens of legal briefs in support of California parents who are challenging a state law that excludes parents from decisions about “socially” transitioning a child’s gender.

California law does not allow school districts to adopt policies that require teachers and school administrators to tell parents when their child identifies as transgender and wants to be treated as the opposite sex. The law does not forbid voluntary notification by a teacher.

In March, the U.S. Supreme Court halted enforcement of the state law, warning it cuts parents out of the conversation. The 6-3 decision did not offer a final ruling on the constitutionality of the law but found that it likely violates constitutionally protected rights to freedom of religion and to direct the upbringing of one’s children, and sent the case back down to the lower courts.

A lower court’s permanent injunction that blocks the law indefinitely is in effect, and the case is in front of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.

The parents, represented by the Catholic nonprofit legal group The Thomas More Society, are getting support from…