Massachusetts parents of 11-year-old 'genderqueer' student who changed name at school lose federal appeals lawsuit
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/massachusetts-parents-of-11-year-old-genderqueer-student-who-changed-name-at-school-lose-federal-appeals-lawsuit/ar-AA1zBE7F?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=08808bb4baa949e2e22a41fb024e9d8f&ei=124
Story by Rick Sobey, Boston Herald (23 Feb 2025)
The parents of an 11-year-old "genderqueer" student who went by a different name in school, while staff members concealed the new name and pronouns from their parents, have lost a federal appeals lawsuit.
... the student announced in an email to school officials, "I am genderqueer." According to the student's email, that meant the student would "use any pronouns (other than it/its)," and the student also said they wanted to change their name...
The student still hadn't told their parents about these identity changes, so school officials used the student's given name and she/her pronouns when talking with their parents. But during school, teachers addressed the student by their new name.
The parents argued that the school district's conduct restricted their parental right to control the upbringing, custody, education, and medical treatment of their child.
"But when all is said and done, we, like the district court, conclude that the Parents have failed to state a plausible claim that Ludlow's implementation of the Protocol as applied to their family violated their fundamental right to direct the upbringing of their child," the appeals court wrote.
"... parental rights are not unlimited," the justices added. "Parents may not invoke the Due Process Clause to create a preferred educational experience for their child in public school. As per our understanding of Supreme Court precedent, our pluralistic society assigns those curricular and administrative decisions to the expertise of school officials, charged with the responsibility of educating children."