Judge Dismisses Parents' Lawsuit Against School Gender Policy but Scolds School District

Gender Policy School's Gender Policy Ludlow Public School U.S. District Judge Mark Mastroianni Lawsuit Filed by Parents Transitioning Issues in School

By Jo Anne Hubert , Parent Herald Dec 28, 07:52 am

Photo: (Photo : Pexel/ EKATERINA BOLOVTSOVA)

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by parents against the school's gender policy but also made sure to scold the school district for its policy that allows the withholding of children's gender identities.

Parents in Massachusetts filed a case against Ludlow Public School, claiming that public school officials encourage their kids to change their names and pronouns without parent consent.

U.S. District Judge Mark Mastroianni ruled against the lawsuit last December 14, stating that it fell short of "meeting the 'shocks-the-conscience' legal standard for due-process claims under the 14th Amendment."

However, the judge did not totally side with the school as he scolded the school district for the policy, expressing that it is "imperfect," "flawed," and does not conform with "nonbinding state guidance" with regards to transgender students, the National Catholic Register reported.

Gender identity deserves protection from discrimination

Mastroianni was apprehensive in his ruling regarding the school's gender policy and actions. Ultimately, he ruled that the school withholding information to the plaintiff about their children does not "really meet the threshold of being shocking to the conscience."

The judge stated that the reasons for his decision were the complexity of the issue and the conflicting interests at play.

The Massachusetts law, according to him, "recognizes gender identity as a personal characteristic deserving of protection from discrimination, (and does not) provide exceptions to permit parents to override a school's decision to support students who identify as transgender or gender nonconforming," quoted by Fox News.

He further explained that addressing an individual with their preferred name and pronouns signifies the basic level of respect from the society, and much more in the public schools of Massachusetts "where discrimination on the basis of gender identity is not permitted."

Yet Mastroianni did not fail to emphasize that state law does not require the school to make a student's gender transition a secret from their parents. He stressed that it is actually "disconcerting" that school staff were instructed to "actively hide" students information from parents that is of utter importance.

School exceeded its boundary

The Christian Post reported that Stephen Foote and Marissa Silvestri were joined by another set of parents on April 12 when they filed the lawsuit in the Massachusetts federal district court.

Foote and Silvestri claimed that the school officials at Paul R. Baird Middle School in Ludlow were "transitioning" students without the parents' knowledge, encouraging students to adopt a new name and gendered pronouns. The parents stated that they became aware of the issue in December 2020 when their 11-year-old daughter's teacher showed them an email wherein the student referred to herself as a "genderqueer."

They further said that the school committee "exceeded the bounds of legitimate pedagogical concerns and usurped the role of [the plaintiffs] and other parents."

The parents' lawyer stated that they are considering an appeal, which they have until mid-January to do.