An Iowa school district has agreed, as part of a lawsuit settlement, to rescind its punitive pronoun policy that prohibited an “intentional and/or persistent refusal by staff or students to respect a student’s gender identity.”
After Parents Defending Education, the nonprofit that brought the lawsuit, prevailed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Linn-Mar Community School District in Iowa revoked a portion of Policy 504.13-R that punished students who “misgender” others. Violations of the policy were punishable up to and including suspension and expulsion as violations of the district’s anti-bullying & anti-harassment policy, equal educational opportunity policy, and Title IX policy, PDE said.
PDE filed the case on behalf of several parents whose children were directly impacted by the policy on both provisions. The parents, PDE said, were particularly concerned that special-needs children, including those on the autism spectrum, could be vulnerable under the policy.
The original case against Linn-Mar also challenged a different part of the policy that allowed schools to hide a child’s gender transition from their parents. Under the rule, the district promises not to disclose a student’s “transgender status” to parents unless that student specifically authorized it.
“Any student in seventh grade or older will have priority of their support plan over their parent/guardian,” the policy also stipulated, suggesting that the student and school administrators would supersede parents on gender-identity decisions. The policy also emphasized that gender-support plans are to be kept in a separate “temporary” file, so that materials and records would not be accessible to parents, according to PDE.
In the wake of PDE’s lawsuit, the state of Iowa passed a bill banning districts from knowingly giving “false or misleading information” to parents about their child’s gender identity.
Many school districts across the country have imposed policies that effectively sanction administrators keeping parents in the dark about their children’s gender confusion. Two Utah school districts, National Review reported Tuesday, are encouraging staff to conceal students’ gender transitions from parents. Policy manuals given to teachers and staff by the Nebo and Alpine school districts broadly directs teachers and staff not to inform parents or guardians after a student asks to be referred to by a name or pronouns of the opposite sex.
“Parents Defending Education is thrilled that Linn-Mar Community School District has agreed to respect the First Amendment rights of its students going forward,” PDE president Nikki Neily said following the settlement. “This settlement sends a clear message that student speech may not be compelled by administrators when it comes to gender issues – and a reminder to districts that viewpoint discrimination in public schools is wrong, full stop.”