Originally published in The Christian Post
California has been ordered to pay $4.5 million (R73.9 million) after losing its attempt to defend a state law prohibiting school officials from informing parents about their children’s gender dysphoria.
In an order published on Monday, Judge Roger Benitez of the US District Court for the Southern District of California granted the request of several California teachers and parents for more than $4.5 million in attorneys’ fees following their victory in a lawsuit challenging the state’s policy prohibiting schools from informing parents if their child wishes to identify as a member of the opposite sex.
Benitez sided with the plaintiffs in a ruling issued late last year.
After the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Benitez’s decision, the plaintiffs appealed to the US Supreme Court. Last month, the justices ruled 6-3 that Benitez’s decision could remain in effect, thereby invalidating the 2024 California law at the center of the litigation.
The law in question states that “[A]n employee or a contractor of a school district, county office of education, charter school, or state special school for the blind or the deaf shall not be required to disclose any information related to a pupil’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to any other person without the pupil’s consent unless otherwise required by state or federal law.”
Lawyers at the Thomas More Society, which represented the plaintiffs, reacted to Benitez’s decision in a series of statements published on Tuesday.
“A $4.5 million fee award sends an unmistakable message to state governments and school districts across the country: If you trample the constitutional rights of parents, you will pay for it — literally,” said Thomas More Society Executive Vice President and Head of Litigation Peter Breen.
“California threw everything it had at this case. It lost at summary judgment, lost at the Supreme Court, and now Californians will foot the bill for their government officials’ refusal to respect the fundamental rights of families,” he added.
Paul Jonna, special counsel at the Thomas More Society and partner at LiMandri & Jonna LLP, praised the court’s award as reflective of “the enormous amount of work it took to overcome a state government that tried to cut parents out of decisions about their own children’s upbringing and well-being.”
“This order confirms that California’s decision to trample parental rights was not only unconstitutional, but costly. Every school district and government official is now on notice and should ensure full compliance with the court’s injunction,” he said.
A 2023 report from the conservative activist organisation Parents Defending Education states that more than 1 000 school districts across the United States had adopted policies that permit or advise personnel to withhold information from parents about their child’s desire to identify as trans or nonbinary.
Efforts by schools to socially transition students without parental knowledge received national attention in February, when President Donald Trump highlighted the story of Sage Blair during his State of the Union address.
The president described how officials at the then-14-year-old girl’s school declined to share Blair’s intention to transition with her parents. The teenager later ran away from home.
“After she was found in a horrific situation in Maryland, a left-wing judge refused to return Sage to her parents because they did not immediately state that their daughter was their son,” he said. “Sage was thrown into an all-boys state home and suffered terribly for a long time.”
After noting that Blair’s gender dysphoria had subsided and that she was slated to attend Liberty University in the fall, Trump said “it’s going on all over”, referring to efforts by schools to socially transition children without parental consent. “Surely we can all agree: No state can be allowed to rip children from their parents’ arms and transition them to a new gender against the parents’ will.”
“We must ban it, and we must ban it immediately,” he concluded.
Please help us to keep on publishing news that brings Hope in Jesus:
>> Donate >> Become a Super Subscriber
VISIT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/gatewaynews100
COMMENTING GUIDELINES
You are welcome to engage with our articles by making comments [in the Comments area below] that add value to a topic or to engage in thoughtful, constructive discussion with fellow readers. Comments that contain vulgar language will be removed. Hostile, demeaning, disrespectful, propagandistic and off-topic comments may also be moved. This is a Christian website and if you wish to vent against Christian beliefs you have probably come to the wrong place and your comments may be removed. Ongoing debates and repetitiveness will not be tolerated. You will also disqualify yourself from commenting if you engage in trolling.
