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CV NEWS FEED // A federal judge ruled Thursday that a lawsuit challenging California’s controversial gender identity policies in public schools may proceed, rejecting the state’s attempt to shut down the case.
Mirabelli v. Olson, filed in 2023 by the Thomas More Society, challenges California’s “Parental Exclusion Policies,” which require teachers to conceal from parents when students show signs of gender dysphoria.
According to the ruling, the California Department of Education’s (CDE) website described “a policy that mandated non-disclosure by teachers when parents asked if their child was displaying signs of gender dysphoria.”
The CDE had asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing that the issue was no longer relevant after they had removed the policy from their website.
However, US District Court Judge Roger T. Benitez denied the motion to dismiss, saying the state failed to prove it had abandoned the policies or that similar guidance would not reappear.
“To the extent the CDE policy has been changed, the new policy could be easily abandoned or altered in the future,” Benitez wrote. “The CDE website changes reflect, at best, a limited change of policy that likely continues to cause harm and could be changed again to cause additional harm in the future.”
The Thomas More Society applauded the ruling last week.
“The CDE claimed that it cured the problem by quietly taking down its parental deception guidance page, but the Court saw through this tactic,” said Paul Jonna, special counsel with the Thomas More Society. “We’re encouraged by the Court’s ruling, and we will keep prosecuting this case until we obtain permanent, class-wide relief for parents, children, and teachers, by putting the final nail in the coffin of California’s Parental Exclusion Policies.”
The lawsuit has already seen several key developments favoring the plaintiffs.
In January, the judge issued a preliminary ruling stating the policies likely violate First Amendment rights of teachers and Fourteenth Amendment rights of parents.
Two months later, the US Department of Education launched an investigation into the CDE for violating the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) after Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., signed a law encouraging schools to hide children’s so-called “gender identities” from parents.
“It is not only immoral but also potentially in contradiction with federal law for California schools to hide crucial information about a student’s wellbeing from parents and guardians,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a March statement. “The agency launched today’s investigation to vigorously protect parents’ rights and ensure that students do not fall victim to a radical transgender ideology that often leads to family alienation and irreversible medical interventions.”
The latest ruling ensures the case will move forward as the Thomas More Society seeks to strike down the state’s parental exclusion practices.
