{"id":2261113,"date":"2024-06-06T07:58:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-06T11:58:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/im-your-mom-now-wisconsin-parents-take-school-secrecy-policy-on-gender-identity-to-scotus\/"},"modified":"2024-06-06T08:03:01","modified_gmt":"2024-06-06T12:03:01","slug":"im-your-mom-now-wisconsin-parents-take-school-secrecy-policy-on-gender-identity-to-scotus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/im-your-mom-now-wisconsin-parents-take-school-secrecy-policy-on-gender-identity-to-scotus\/","title":{"rendered":"Wisconsin Parents Challenge School Secrecy Policy on Gender Identity at SCOTUS"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fim-your-mom-now-wisconsin-parents-take-school-secrecy-policy-on-gender-identity-to-scotus%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2261113&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Eau Claire Area School\u2063 District in Wisconsin faces controversy over its gender-identity policy, challenging parental rights\u200d and school transparency. The case, brought to the U.S. Supreme Court by concerned parents, questions whether\u200b schools can withhold information on \u2062gender identity changes from parents. This pivotal debate\u200c highlights the broader issue of parental involvement in educational decisions.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>Wisconsin\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecasd.us\/District\/Home\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Eau Claire Area School District\u2019s<\/a> so-called gender-identity policy is a big middle finger to the basic principles of parental rights. Now a group of parents is fighting back in a case testing the limits of public education power: whether school districts can keep secrets about the children they are educating. <\/p>\n<p>This week, the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) and America First Legal filed a petition of certiorari asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take up <a href=\"https:\/\/caselaw.findlaw.com\/court\/us-7th-circuit\/115911134.html#:~:text=In%20September%202022%20the%20association,Exercise%20Clause%20of%20the%20First\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Parents Protecting Our Children v. Eau Claire Area School District<\/em>.<\/a> The lawsuit, originally filed in 2022 in federal district court, alleges the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sf-school-board-president-accuses-mayor-of-division-for-criticizing-renaming-re-opening-plans\/\" title=\"SF School Board President Accuses Mayor Of \u2018Division\u2019 For Criticizing Renaming, Re-Opening Plans\">public school system<\/a> has put in place a policy \u201cto facilitate gender identity transitions at school and to keep this hidden from parents who would disagree that it is in their child\u2019s best interest to change gender identity.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-510638215\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-6bcb1eda9a48c26898506118ee96b3b9 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-6bcb1eda9a48c26898506118ee96b3b9\"><\/div>\n<p>The district court and the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed the case. In the appellate court<a href=\"https:\/\/caselaw.findlaw.com\/court\/us-7th-circuit\/115911134.html#:~:text=No%20doubt%20Parents%20Protecting's%20allegations,Guidance%20or%20a%20Support%20Plan.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> ruling,<\/a> Magistrate Judge Steven Crocker wrote that the parents clearly \u201charbor genuine concerns about possible applications of the School District\u2019s policy,\u201d but none of the parents suffered harm because of the policy. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo doubt Parents Protecting\u2019s allegations punch with conviction and concern,\u201d Crocker <a href=\"https:\/\/caselaw.findlaw.com\/court\/us-7th-circuit\/115911134.html#:~:text=No%20doubt%20Parents%20Protecting's%20allegations,Guidance%20or%20a%20Support%20Plan.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote<\/a>. \u201cBut nowhere does the complaint allege that even one of the association\u2019s members \u2014 any particular parent \u2014 has experienced an actual or imminent injury attributable to the Administrative Guidance or a Support Plan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But the parents are directly affected by the pro-transgender policy, WILL notes in the appeal to the Supreme Court. It\u2019s a policy of secrecy that could keep them in the dark about a matter of urgent parental concern. And the erosion of parental rights through similar school policies is happening nationwide, the court filing asserts. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThousands of school districts across our country have these policies. If parents cannot challenge them until after their children are harmed, they have no way to protect their kids other than pulling them from public school,\u201d said Luke Berg, deputy counsel for the Milwaukee-based conservative public interest law firm. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-493eac393ce63faa401bb76b0f1ae42e fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-493eac393ce63faa401bb76b0f1ae42e\"><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2018School Is Now Like Las Vegas\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Parents Protecting Our Children, all of whom have children enrolled in the Eau Claire school district, \u201cdo not want the District and do not want school district staff making decisions about their own children that are kept secret from them,\u201d the lawsuit states. <\/p>\n<p>In the appeal to the high court, the parents ask a critical legal question: \u201cWhen a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-school-district-adopts-transgender-notification-policy-amidst-controversy\/\" title=\"California school district adopts transgender notification policy amidst controversy.\">school district adopts<\/a> an explicit policy to usurp parental decision-making authority over a major health-related decision \u2014 and to conceal this from the parents \u2014 do parents who are subject to such a policy have standing to challenge it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>WILL argues that the case, and others like it, represents \u201cone of the most significant failures of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-will-announce-supreme-court-pick-by-end-of-february-confirms-it-will-be-black-woman\/\" title=\"Biden Will Announce Supreme Court Pick By End Of February, Confirms It Will Be Black Woman\">federal judicial system<\/a> in our lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSchool districts across the country \u2014 by one count, over 1,000, covering nearly 11 million students \u2014 have adopted policies to facilitate minor students, often of any age, changing their gender identity at school (names, pronouns, and bathroom use) in secret from their parents,\u201d the court filing states. \u201cMany of these policies, like the Eau Claire School District\u2019s, prohibit teachers from discussing with parents what is happening with their own child at school and even require staff to actively hide things from parents.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-cb0f4f0a07d9b24dad8f832df0c50019 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-cb0f4f0a07d9b24dad8f832df0c50019\"><\/div>\n<p>\u201cSchool is now like Las Vegas: \u2018What happens at school stays at school,&#8217;\u201d the petition contends, urging the Supreme Court to consider the national implications. \u201cThese policies have already generated over two dozen lawsuits \u2026 with many more to come.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2018I\u2019m Your Mom Now\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>According to the Eau Claire public school system\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/will-law.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Exhibit-A-Administrative-Guidance-for-Gender-Support-updated-11.30.2021.pdf\">Administrative Guidance for Gender Identity Support, <\/a>updated in late 2021, the district seeks \u201c1) to foster inclusive and welcoming environments that are free from discrimination, harassment, and bullying regardless of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression; and 2) to facilitate compliance with district policy.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The so-called guidance document requires educators and staff to \u201cinquire which terms [names and pronouns] a student may prefer and avoid terms that make the individual uncomfortable; a good general guideline is to employ those terms which the individual uses to describe themself.\u201d District employees also should inquire about what bathroom and locker room the trans student prefers, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/south-carolina-passes-bill-to-keep-males-out-of-womens-sports-over-massive-dem-opposition\/\" title=\"South Carolina Passes Bill To Keep Males Out Of Women\u2019s Sports Over Massive Dem Opposition\">sex-specific athletic team<\/a> the student wishes to join, and which \u201ctransition plan\u201d \u2014 social, medical, surgical \u2014 the trans student is comfortable with. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome transgender, non-binary, and\/or gender-nonconforming students are not \u2018open\u2019 at home for reasons that may include safety concerns or lack of acceptance. School personnel should speak with the student first before discussing a student\u2019s gender nonconformity or transgender status with the student\u2019s parent\/guardian,\u201d the policy states. <\/p>\n<p>Eau Claire North High School drew national attention in 2022 after a staff member reportedly posted a sign on the school\u2019s door declaring, \u201cIf Your Parents Aren\u2019t Accepting Of Your Identity I\u2019m Your Mom Now.\u201d <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"> <span class=\"T9m4cPHWQLSJjKD5AqVDxWyed7pOBT1vGwxC2hsVOZMz8lFdshCInMYvri0tGFHb4gA1oEntoUgqX2pbye8\"><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">High school staff member in Eau Claire, WI displays poster that tells students, &#8220;I&#8217;m Your Mom Now.&#8221;<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/SeWL30jrM6\">https:\/\/t.co\/SeWL30jrM6<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/xuDAMDtznw\">pic.twitter.com\/xuDAMDtznw<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Parents Defending Education (@DefendingEd) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DefendingEd\/status\/1500947415356039176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 7, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>As Newsweek <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/sign-telling-identity-confused-kids-im-your-mom-now-sparks-controversy-1685713\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a> at the time, Eau Claire teachers the month before had been required to attend an \u201cequity\u201d professional development day addressing \u201cSafe Spaces.\u201d The event included a slide instructing teachers that \u201c\u2026parents are not entitled to know their kids\u2019 identities. That knowledge must be earned.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eau Claire Area School District Board President Tim Nordin <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wpr.org\/news\/federal-appeals-court-dismisses-eau-claire-schools-transgender-policy-lawsuit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">told <\/a>Wisconsin Public Radio in March that the district policy has remained unchanged since the lawsuit was first filed. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe remain convinced that not only is this supportive for students and for families, but that it\u2019s fully within the rights of the students and families,\u201d Nordin said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to continue to support them as best we can.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2018Constitutional Right\u2019 <\/h2>\n<p>But parents have primary rights in the lives of their children that certainly extend to the classroom, WILL and America First Legal argue in the petition before the Supreme Court. The petition notes the court has repeatedly recognized parents have a \u201cfundamental constitutional right to make decisions concerning the rearing of [their] own [children].\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs any parent knows, parental authority includes the right (and the solemn responsibility) to say no to children\u2019s often short-sighted desires when necessary to protect them from themselves,\u201d the petition argues, noting that even the Biden administration\u2019s recent identity politics-driven Title IX rule eschews the kind of policies Eau Claire schools have emphasized. The federal rule says that \u201cnothing in the final regulations disturbs parental rights,\u201d and that \u201cWhen a parent and minor student disagree\u201d \u2014 about the \u201cname or pronouns used at school,\u201d for example \u2014 \u201cdeference to the judgment of a parent \u2026 is appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>WILL has been at the forefront of the parental rights battle. The law firm was engaged in a lengthy court fight over the Madison Metropolitan School District\u2019s so-called gender identity policy. The case went to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, where it was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wmtv15news.com\/2023\/07\/10\/lawsuit-over-madison-school-districts-gender-identity-policy-dismissed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ultimately dismissed <\/a>because the mother who was the plaintiff in the case decided not to send her child to a Madison district school. So she lost standing in the lawsuit. The dismissal had nothing to do with the merits of the case. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-cadaa423e70c67db0647ace5abc7c111 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-cadaa423e70c67db0647ace5abc7c111\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wisconsin&#8217;s Eau Claire Area School District faces backlash for its secrecy over gender-identity policies, sparking a parental rights battle. Parents challenge the school&#8217;s authority in a case questioning educational transparency. The conflict raises concerns about schools withholding information from parents, testing the boundaries of public education. This week, the contentious issue reaches a pivotal stage in Wisconsin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":656,"featured_media":2261114,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Bathroom-Sign-Male-Female.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2261113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Bathroom-Sign-Male-Female.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2261113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/656"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2261113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2261113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2261114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2261113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2261113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2261113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}