Parents Sue Over New Jersey School Trans Disclosure Policies (1)

Multiple parents sued New Jersey state and local school officials Tuesday over laws and policies they say impede their rights to know and have a say if their children are undergoing a gender transition.

The lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the District of New Jersey comes after a divided US Supreme Court last month blocked a California policy restricting when parents can be informed about gender identities without student consent.

The New Jersey parents, who object to the nondisclosure practices for religious reasons, said they don’t know if their children “are being gender transitioned” but are suing to prevent officials from enforcing state guidance and local policies that don’t require school officials to disclose gender identity issues.

“Each and every school district which adopts and enforces district policies” providing that parents don’t have to “be advised that their minor children are gender transitioning at school” and that parents don’t need to be given “fully informed consent to such gender transitioning violates fundamental First Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment parental rights,” the lawsuit says.

Among those sued are state Attorney General Jennifer Davenport, education Commissioner Lily Laux, and various heads of local boards of education, including in Newark, the state’s largest city. The guidance, policies, and the attorney general’s interpretation of the state’s antidiscrimination laws that also give way to nondisclosure must be halted, the parents said.

“Pursuant to official government policies, the result is that minor students live double lives at home and at school, as their mental health is placed under severe and potentially life-threatening strain by such violations of long-established fundamental constitutional rights,” the lawsuit says.

The case is one of dozens of such cases filed nationwide challenging school notification policies regarding transgender students. Those suing over the policies believe the Supreme Court’s ruling signaled how it would come down on the merits of the case.

Davenport’s office declined to comment, while none of the sued officials immediately provided comments.

The parents are represented by Murray-Nolan Berutti LLC.

The case is Lema v. Davenport, D.N.J., No. 2:26-cv-04682, complaint filed 4/28/26.