Teachers have a right to tell parents if their child might be LGBTQ+, federal judge rules

"Because the State Defendants' parental exclusion policies ... demand that teachers communicate misrepresentations or deceptively avoidant responses to parental questions, which, in turn, violate the constitutional rights of parents, this type of government speech may not be forced upon teachers who conscientiously disagree."

"California public schools may be gun-free zones, but they are not First Amendment-free zones,"

"Religious teachers face an unlawful choice between sacrificing their faith and sacrificing their teaching position."

"directly lying to the parent, preventing the parent from accessing educational records of the child, or using a different set of preferred pronouns/names when speaking with the parents than is being used at school."

Federal court decision affirms that federal law allows school employees to notify parents about a student's gender incongruence. School staff may make a personal decision to contact a parent with information about a possible LGBTQ+ identity. The court order bars school districts from misleading parents about their child's gender presentation at school. School employees are prohibited from directly lying to the parent, preventing parental access to educational records, or using different preferred pronouns or names with parents than at school. The decision frames religious teachers as facing a choice between faith and employment. Critics say the outcome weakens student privacy and LGBTQ+ protections and undermines California efforts to ensure students feel safe and respected.

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