Public School’s Pronoun Protocol Tests Bounds of Parental Rights

Public schools’ ability to keep a student’s gender identity private from their parents hangs on whether the First Circuit revives two parents’ lawsuit over a teacher’s failure to notify them that their child began identifying as genderqueer.

Stephen Foote and Marissa Silvestri claim the Ludlow, Massachusetts School Committee unconstitutionally hid that teachers were providing “mental health care” by affirming their 11-year-old child’s gender identity. They had a right to be informed of their child’s request to use new pronouns, the parents argue.

The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit will hear oral arguments Wednesday. It will likely be ...