The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a case over whether public schools violate parents’ rights by affirming a student’s gender identity without notifying them.
The case, Foote v. Ludlow School Committee, involves parents Stephen Foote and Marissa Silvestri, whose middle school-aged child — identified in court documents as B.F. — began questioning their gender identity and seeing a therapist.
The parents claimed in court filings that staff at Baird Middle School were “pushing beliefs concerning gender ideology behind the parents’ backs” and encouraging students to question their identities, contributing to their child’s confusion.
Silvestri said she asked school officials not to hold private discussions with her child so the family could address mental health concerns “as a family and with the proper professionals.” She alleges staff ignored that request and began supporting B.F.’s social transition without her knowledge, including using a different name and pronouns and allowing the student to choose which bathroom to use.
School lawyers said staff acted after B.F. emailed officials, “I am genderqueer,” and asked teachers to use a new name and “any pronouns.” The parents dispute that account, arguing staff encouraged the changes.
The parents allege Ludlow Public Schools follows an unwritten policy allowing students to socially transition at school without their parents’ knowledge or consent. They claim the policy directs staff to use a student’s legal name and pronouns with parents while using the student’s preferred name and pronouns at school.
With the backing of the anti-LGBTQ law firm Alliance Defending Freedom, Foote and Silvestri — along with two other parents — sued the Ludlow School Committee and district officials in 2022, arguing the policy violated their right to direct their children’s upbringing and make medical and mental health decisions.
A federal district court dismissed the case, finding the school’s actions did not violate parental rights because social transition — including using a student’s chosen name and pronouns — is not medical treatment. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later upheld that ruling.
Foote and Silvestri appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, citing prior rulings affirming parents’ rights to direct their children’s upbringing. They pointed to a recent decision in which the court found a Maryland school district violated parents’ religious freedom by denying opt-outs from lessons featuring LGBTQ-themed books.
The Supreme Court declined to hear the case, leaving the lower courts’ rulings in place. The justices did not provide a reason for the decision.
GLAD Law, which filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the 1st Circuit, called the decision a victory against forced-outing policies.
“When teachers acknowledge and respect students, including using students’ requested names and pronouns, it creates safety that allows learning to flourish,” said Chris Erchull, a senior staff attorney at GLAD Law, in a statement. “The lower courts rightly found no constitutional mandate that schools automatically disclose such information without the student’s consent.
“There is an important and long-recognized partnership between schools and parents: parents have a right to be involved in their children’s education, and school officials have a responsibility to manage the learning environment in ways that promote academic success and ensure all students have the chance to thrive.”
A Kentucky bill that sought to bar transgender people from teaching has failed.
State Sen. Gex ("Jay") Williams (R-Verona) introduced SB 351 in early March to prevent transgender people from obtaining or keeping teaching certifications.
Under the bill, anyone reported to state education officials as potentially transgender would have been required to undergo medical exams and submit the results to obtain or renew a teaching license.
The bill also would have barred teaching certificates for anyone "who has been treated for or diagnosed with any disorder that is excluded from the American with Disabilities Act of 1990 by a licensed medical professional, as these disorders were defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders at the time."
A man who was kicked out of the Boy Scouts of America as a teenager for being gay -- and became the first to sue the organization over its ban on gay youth and adult leaders -- has returned 45 years later as an assistant scoutmaster.
Tim Curran, a 64-year-old assistant scoutmaster with Manhattan’s Troop 662, told People magazine he always wanted to return to scouting after his expulsion. But his four-decade career as a journalist and documentary filmmaker kept him from committing to a leadership role -- even after BSA, now rebranded as "Scouting America," lifted its ban on openly gay adult leaders in 2015.
Nepal has elected its first-ever transgender woman to parliament, with the election commission confirming last week that 37-year-old LGBTQ rights advocate Bhumika Shrestha will serve as a lawmaker from the centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party, which secured 182 of 275 seats earlier this month.
In Nepal, voters cast two ballots in parliamentary elections: one elects 165 members from single-member constituencies using first-past-the-post voting, while the other fills 110 seats from party lists distributed proportionally based on the overall vote.
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