The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a ruling against a school district in Iowa, declaring that its policy requiring students to acknowledge the “gender identity” of their classmates is unconstitutional.
Last year, the Linn-Mar School District in Iowa found itself at the center of a lawsuit filed by Parents Defend Education on behalf of concerned parents who opposed the district’s policy on “gender identity.” The policy allowed students to create a “gender support plan” that mandated staff and students to recognize a child’s preferred name, pronouns, and gender. This support plan could be implemented without the consent of a child’s parent or guardian.
However shortly after Linn-Mar passed this policy, the state of Iowa enacted a law requiring schools to notify parents if their child is asking to be identified as the opposite sex at school.
Despite the state law superseding the previous district policy, the court proceeded with the case and ruled on the district’s requirement that students must “respect” the gender identity of classmates. The court pointed out that the district’s policy failed to adequately define the word “respect,” and ultimately determined that such a policy would violate the First Amendment.
In the court’s opinion, U.S. Circuit Judge Steven Colloton explained that “A school district cannot avoid the strictures of the First Amendment simply by defining certain speech as ‘bullying’ or ‘harassment’.”
Shortly after the court ruling, President and Founder of Parents Defending Education, Nicole Neily, issued a statement celebrating the ruling by the Eight Circuit court:
“We are gratified that the Eighth Circuit upheld the rights of families and students in Linn-Mar,” said Neily. “It is never acceptable to prohibit speech with vague terms that allow arbitrary enforcement, especially when compelled student speech is at stake, and this sends a clear message to other districts across the country with similar bullying and harassment policies on the books.”
