CHARLESTON, WV (WVDN) — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey joined a coalition of 16 attorneys general in an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in support of a group of parents who challenged a school district’s gender transition guidelines.
Those guidelines allow children to change their gender identity at school, including names, pronouns and use of facilities such as locker rooms and bath rooms—without their parents’ knowledge, or consent.
“This is ludicrous. Parents have the right to be involved in their children’s education and their time in school, especially when it comes to life-altering decisions,” Attorney General Morrisey said, joining the coalition in the SCOTUS brief in arguing: “Parents should not have to wait until public schools have trampled their rights before they can seek a remedy in federal court; rather, [the Supreme] Court’s standing doctrine allows parents to vindicate their rights in this important area of law.”
“For a school district to hide vital information from parents is not only sinister, but potentially damaging,” the Attorney General added.
The coalition’s brief makes two main points:
- Parents have standing to challenge policies that interfere with their relationships with their children.
- Parents’ rights to raise and educate their children should be protected by granting cert and reversing.
The Attorney General led a similar brief (17-state coalition) before the Supreme Court earlier this year supporting parents’ rights and opposing the Montgomery County, Md. Board of Education’s inclusion of a Parental Preclusion Policy in its “Guidelines for Student Gender Identity.”
Attorney General Morrisey joined the Virginia-led coalition with Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas and Utah.
