Linn-Mar High School students attend assembly Spring of 2022. (Photo Credit: Linn-Mar Community School District/Facebook)
Parents Defending Education, a conservative right wing nationwide nonprofit membership association, sued an Iowa school district in federal court last week over the district’s gender support plan approved last spring by the school board.
The Linn-Mar Community School District policy covers year 7 through year 12, allowing students to freely communicate with faculty members and school staff about their gender identity. The policy protects those conversations from their parents if they wish.
The policy also states students and staff should identify a student by their chosen name and pronouns, and allow students to participate in activities as their assigned gender.
PDE’s suit alleges the LMCSD’s “parental exclusion policy” violates parent’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights, stating “Nearly a century of Supreme Court precedent makes two things clear: parents have a constitutional liberty interest in the care, custody, and control of their children, and students do not abandon their First Amendment rights at the schoolhouse gate. The Linn-Mar Community School District is flouting both of these constitutional guarantees through its recent adoption of Policy 504.13-R.”
The suit also claims, “The Policy authorizes children to make fundamentally important decisions concerning their gender identity without any parental involvement and to then hide these decisions from their parents. […] These actions can happen without any knowledge or input from the child’s parents. Instead, these decisions will be made solely by the child and “school administrators and/or school counselors.” And it is not just secrecy through silence. The District will withhold this information even if it is specifically requested by parents.”
“Linn-Mar’s gender policy demonstrates a deep contempt for the constitutional rights of its students and families,” said Parents Defending Education President Nicole Neily in a statement. “It has been clearly established by the federal court system over the past 100 years that parents have a right to direct the upbringing of their children, and we are proud to fight on behalf of our members to put a stop to these unconstitutional policies.”
LGBTQ advocates maintain the LMCSD policy is necessary to ensure that LGBTQ students can seek help in regards to questions they might have about gender identity, and also protects them from bullying and harassment.
The lawsuit alleges though that the policy is too broad when it comes to bullying and harassment, and that it violates First Amendment protections for those persons who choose to not identify a student by their chosen gender or name.
Since the LMCSD board passed the policy the community of around 6,000 people has been divided. One parent writing, in a Facebook post on the LMCSD page, “I think every parent at Linn Mar that is uncomfortable with this decision can start with Asking for a separate partition for their child to be able to change in the locker room. Biological males and females have just as much right as transgender kids to feel comfortable”
Another parent answered “Or they could just learn to be decent humans and mind their own business in the facilities.”
The Linn-Mar Community School District did not respond to media requests for comment.
