The Supreme Court on Monday blocked a law that prevents California schools from telling parents if their child comes out as transgender, after granting an emergency appeal from a conservative legal group.
The order for now blocks a state law signed by Gov. Newsom in July 2024 that made California the first state to bar school districts from requiring staff to notify parents of their child’s gender identification.
The ruling also blocks a rule that required teachers to use a student’s preferred pronouns.
Monday’s granting of an emergency appeal from a conservative legal group comes after many parents and teachers challenged the law.
The Thomas More Society, representing two sets of Catholic parents, argued the law causes schools to mislead them and secretly facilitates gender transition in minors.
But the Supreme Court did not grant a similar request made by parents who object to the law.
“We conclude that the parents who seek religious exemptions are likely to succeed on the merits of their Free Exercise Clause claim,” the court said in an unsigned opinion, after a 6-3 vote on ideological lines.
“The parents who assert a free exercise claim have sincere religious beliefs about sex and gender, and they feel a religious obligation to raise their children in accordance with those beliefs,” the court said.
