The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a case brought by parents who say their child’s school district failed to notify them of the student’s social transition, including the use of a new name and different pronouns during school hours.
The high court offered no explanation for declining the appeal, leaving in place a 2-1 ruling from a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that sided with the school district.
The case stems from a dispute involving January and Jeffrey Littlejohn, whose middle-school-aged child, assigned female at birth, told her parents in 2020 that she was questioning her gender and asked to go by “J” and use they/them pronouns. The parents did not agree but told their child, referred to as “A.G.” in court documents, that she could use “J” as a nickname at school.
Soon after, A.G. told a school counselor they wanted to use a different name and they/them pronouns. The counselor, a school social worker, and the principal then met with the student to develop a support plan, asking A.G. about their preferred name and pronouns. The Littlejohns later claimed in court filings that they were neither informed of nor invited to the meeting because their child did not specifically request their presence.
A few days later, the Littlejohns say they learned of the support plan meeting and demanded that school officials stop meeting privately with their child or treating her as nonbinary. They were later given a copy of the plan.
However, an email obtained by CNN in 2022 shows that January Littlejohn asked the school to use they/them pronouns for her child and said she would not stop her child from using her preferred name at school. When a teacher asked if the email could be shared with others, Littlejohn replied: “Whatever you think is best or [A.G.] can handle it herself.”
“This gender situation has thrown us for a loop. I sincerely appreciate your support,” Littlejohn wrote in another email sent the same day. “I’m going to let [A.G.] take the lead on this.”
The Littlejohns eventually sued the Leon County School Board, based in Tallahassee, along with district administrators, alleging violations of their parental due process and familial privacy rights. The lawsuit centers on Leon County’s procedures for handling transgender and gender-nonconforming students.
Under the procedures in place when A.G. disclosed they wanted to be treated as nonbinary, students asserting a new gender identity would be treated consistent with that identity, with staff developing support plans and accommodations as needed. The policy did not require teachers to “out” transgender or nonbinary students to their parents, noting that doing so could be dangerous, and required a student’s permission before notifying parents.
In 2021, Florida enacted a “Parent’s Bill of Rights” — dubbed by LGBTQ advocates the “Don’t Say Gay” law — prohibiting schools from infringing on parents’ rights to direct the “upbringing, education, health care and mental health” of their children. To comply, Leon County revised its procedures in June 2022 to ensure school personnel informed parents when students identified as a gender that did not match their assigned sex at birth.
In their lawsuit, the Littlejohns argued that Leon County’s now-defunct procedures for handling transgender and nonbinary students violated their parental rights.
A federal judge dismissed the Littlejohns’ lawsuit in December 2022. They appealed to the 11th Circuit, which upheld the dismissal in a March 2025 ruling. The Littlejohns then sought an en banc hearing — in which all active judges on the conservative-leaning court would reconsider the case — but that request was denied, prompting their appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Since filing their lawsuit and the passage of Florida’s parental rights law, the Littlejohns have become a cause célèbre among conservatives opposed to gender-affirming school policies. President Donald Trump gave January Littlejohn — seated beside First Lady Melania Trump during his 2025 address to Congress — a shout-out, calling the district’s trans-affirming policies a form of “child abuse.”
By declining to hear the Littlejohns’ challenge, the Supreme Court sidesteps, for now, a broader policy debate over parental rights and whether school officials should be required to “out” LGBTQ students to their parents. The court recently declined a similar case, though at least three justices — Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, and Neil Gorsuch — have signaled interest in taking up the issue.
A new rule from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives could effectively criminalize transgender people who attempt to buy firearms, raising concerns about their ability to exercise Second Amendment rights.
The move stems from an executive order by President Donald Trump declaring that the federal government will recognize only two sexes -- male and female -- based on biological anatomy at birth.
Under the change, all gun buyers would be required to list their sex assigned at birth on purchase paperwork, even if they have legally changed their gender or undergone gender confirmation surgery. That would force transgender people to either "out" themselves or risk lying on a government form -- a crime punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or up to 10 years if the lie is deemed "material" to the sale.
LGBTQ advocates in Georgia are celebrating a milestone after 15 bills targeting the LGBTQ community introduced during the 2026 legislative session failed to pass before the session ended on April 2.
"This session, we stopped every bill targeting LGBTQ Georgians, even in spite of underhanded political maneuvers," Jeff Graham, executive director of Georgia Equality, said in a statement. "Thousands of Georgians from over 60 counties came together to successfully defeat every last one."
The organization said it mobilized 2,500 Georgia residents to contact their legislators, with 400 traveling to the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta in recent weeks to lobby lawmakers, testify against the measures, and, in some cases, protest efforts to advance policies targeting LGBTQ rights or visibility.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked to leave a Little Rock restaurant, with the owner citing concerns from LGBTQ employees over her political positions.
On March 13, Sanders dined at The Croissanterie, arriving unannounced with two guests, staff members, and her State Police Executive Protection Detail.
Her party had been seated for more than an hour and had already paid and tipped when she said the restaurant owner asked a member of her security detail to have them leave.
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