In an interview with Face the Nation earlier this week, Gov. Phil Murphy stood by his decision to file suit against three school districts over a new policy that would require teachers and school administrators to alert parents if their K-8th grade student shows signs or behaviors regarding changing their gender identity.
Murphy shared with host Margaret Brennan, “We took these actions because it’s the right thing to do to protect these precious young people.” Murphy added, “Parents are always involved, certainly in our administration. They’re always at the table, and they always will be. But let’s be smart about this. Let’s protect the rights of these precious kids.”
In the school districts at issue, actions such as a student asking to use a different gender bathroom, asking to be called by a different pronoun, or being identified as the opposite gender would require teachers and school staff to contact parents.
The lawsuit was filed by Attorney General Matt Platkin against the Manalapan-Englishtown, Marlboro, and Middletown school districts and boards. The lawsuit defends that such policies are a violation of New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination and that such policies could put transgender and gender non-conforming students at risk.
State law details through the “Transgender Student Guidance for School Districts” that school districts in the state “shall ensure” students are addressed by their preferred pronouns and should be allowed to dress “in accordance with their gender identity” and that “parental consent is not required” for the district to accept the student’s “asserted gender identity.”
Despite the state guidance, parents and community members throughout the state have pushed back arguing that such policies create threatening environments for students who are not yet ready to come out to their families.
“‘Outing’ these students against their will poses serious mental health risks; threatens physical harm to students, including risking increased suicides; decreases the likelihood students will seek support; and shirks the District’s obligation to create a safe and supportive learning environment for all,” explains the lawsuit. “Indeed, LGBTQ+ students in New Jersey and elsewhere have died by suicide after being outed.”
Sundeep Iyer, director of the Attorney General’s Division on Civil Rights, explained in a statement that “School policies that single out or target LGBTQ+ youth fly in the face of our State’s longstanding commitment to equality.” Iyer added, “Our laws prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression, plain and simple, and we will not waver in our commitment to enforcing those protections.”
Marlboro’s school board attorney Marc Zitomer shares that he feels this new policy balances the rights of parents and students. “We vehemently disagree with the state’s argument that it is somehow discriminatory or improper to notify a parent that their minor child is changing their gender identity or expression,” he shared in an email. “It is our position that keeping parents in the dark about important issues involving their children is counterintuitive and contrary to well-established U.S. Supreme Court case law that says that parents have a constitutional right to direct and control the upbringing of their children.”
The school district's policy does offer exceptions to parent notification, but only in cases where notifying parents could put a student in harm’s way. Additionally, the school districts maintain that these policies will only be implemented for students grades K-8 as this is when “the responsibility for determining a student’s gender identity rests with the student’s parents/guardians.”
This is the state’s attorney general’s largest push against what many have called attacks on transgender and gender non-conforming populations. In May, the state took similar action against the Hanover Township school board after they implemented policies that would allow school staff to alert parents if their child questioned their identity or expressed that they were transitioning.
A fair share of parents maintain that they should be involved and aware of what their child does in school including whether or not they have asked to be called by a different pronoun, name, or are displaying any other behaviors associated with gender identity.
Many other parents and students, however, argue that such school policies strip protections away from children who identify as LGBTQIA+ and create environments that could further harm a child’s physical and mental well-being.
Murphy contended in his interview, “Let’s not violate the constitutional and civil rights of precious young folks, who in many cases are coming to grips with life as they grow up.” He went on, “Let’s be all in this together, as opposed to this us-versus-them, this demonizing. When that happens, invariably it’s the LGBT community, particularly trans folks, who get behind the eight ball.”
