The Supreme Court declined to intervene in a case concerning a school policy that withholds disclosure of a student’s gender identity from parents if there are concerns about parental support. This decision came as the Court rejected an appeal from three parents challenging a gender support plan implemented by Maryland’s largest school district in 2020.
The Court’s action maintains a ruling by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Virginia, which determined that the parents lacked standing to sue the Montgomery County Public School system as they had not demonstrated any harm resulting from the policy. None of the parents asserted that their children identified as transgender, struggled with gender identity, or were likely to question their biological gender.
In its decision, the divided 4th Circuit appeals panel acknowledged the parents’ compelling arguments against the policy but emphasized that the appropriate recourse was through the democratic process rather than the legal system.
The parents, who brought the challenge using pseudonyms, contended that the school’s nondisclosure policy effectively prevented them from knowing what information was being withheld. They argued that students were permitted to use different names and present as a gender other than their birth sex without parental consultation or notification.
Highlighting that the issue extends beyond one county in Maryland, the parents stressed that similar concerns were being raised by parents and school districts across the country, from Maine to California.
However, attorneys representing the school district countered that the Supreme Court should await a challenge from parents who could demonstrate that a school had specifically denied them information about their own children.