In July 2024, Parents Defending Education (PDE) filed an amicus (“friend of the court”) brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Parents Protecting Our Children v. Eau Claire Area School District. The Wisconsin district’s policy lets school staff secretly carry out a child’s “gender transition,” such as having the child use a new name, pronouns, and bathroom, without telling the parents, asking for their input, or getting their consent.
The brief argues:
- These policies are widespread. PDE has found 1,086 school districts with “parental exclusion” policies, covering 19,598 schools and more than 11.4 million students.
- Social transition harms children. It is not a neutral step. It has contributed to the sharp rise in gender dysphoria diagnoses among minors and often leads to puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgery, which are unproven and risky treatments with possibly permanent effects on health and fertility.
- These policies violate parents’ constitutional rights. The Supreme Court has called parents’ right to “the care, custody, and control of their children” perhaps the oldest fundamental right protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. Parents don’t give up that right by sending their children to school, and schools have no legitimate interest, let alone a compelling one, in secretly transitioning a child.
- Courts are wrongly shutting parents out. Some courts, including the Seventh Circuit in this case, have misapplied the rules on “standing,” or the right to sue, which shields these policies from review.
With so much at stake, PDE urged the Supreme Court to take the case.
Read the full brief below:
