ERLC and Iowa Baptist Convention Urge Court to Protect Parental Rights in Transgender Student Policy Case

The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) and the Baptist Convention of Iowa (BCI) have joined other organizations in urging a federal appeals court to block a public school district’s transgender policy. The policy, implemented by the Linn-Mar Community School District in eastern Iowa, restricts the disclosure of a student’s transgender status to parents unless authorized by the student or required by law, such as for standardized tests.

The ERLC and BCI signed onto a friend-of-the-court brief filed with the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, which is based in St. Louis. The brief seeks to reverse a federal judge’s ruling and issue an injunction preventing the enforcement of the policy. The court has scheduled oral arguments for the week of February 13-17 in St. Paul, Minn.

The Linn-Mar Community School District introduced the policy in April 2022. It prohibits the district from informing parents or others about a student’s transgender status without the student’s authorization or legal requirement. The policy allows students and schools to determine the student’s name, pronouns, gender for school trips, restroom and locker room use, and sports team participation without parental notification or consent.

The brief argues that the policy infringes on parents’ rights to direct the care and education of their children. It claims the policy violates due process protections by withholding information critical to parental involvement. “God has ordained the family as the fundamental institution of our society,” said Hannah Daniel, the ERLC’s policy manager. “Schools should not come between parents and their children, especially in such sensitive and important matters of gender and sexuality.”

Ben Bradley, the BCI’s communications and outreach director, emphasized the importance of parental involvement in their children’s education and well-being. The brief urges the Eighth Circuit Court to recognize the policy as a violation of parental rights and to strike it down. The case highlights ongoing tensions between parental rights and school policies regarding transgender students.

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