Supreme Court blocks California ban on telling parents about gender transitions
The court granted an emergency appeal from a conservative legal group, the Thomas More Society, blocking, at least for now, a state law prohibiting automatic parental notification requirements if students change their gender expression or pronouns at school.
The Thomas More Society praised the decision as “the most important ruling on parental rights in a generation.” Two groups of Catholic parents represented by the legal group argued that the state law, which was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom In 2024, she misled schools and secretly facilitated gender transition for students.
Two groups of Catholic parents argued that the state law, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law in 2024, led schools to mislead them and secretly facilitate students’ gender transition. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
But California emphasized that students have a right to privacy regarding their gender expression, especially if they fear rejection from their families who may not support their decision to adopt a new gender identity. The state also said school policies and state law seek to balance student privacy and parental rights.
Last year, state education officials told school districts that state policy “does not mandate nondisclosure.” Newsom’s office also previously said that “parents continue to have full and secured access to their students’ educational records as required by federal law.”
The Supreme Court sided with the parents on Monday and reinstated a lower court order blocking the law and school policies while the case continued.
“Parents who affirm freedom to exercise have sincerely held religious beliefs about sex and sexuality, and feel a religious obligation to raise their children in accordance with these beliefs. California’s policies violate these beliefs,” the majority wrote in an unsigned order, adding that the state’s policies burden the free exercise of religion.
The Thomas More Society praised the decision as “the most important ruling on parental rights in a generation.” (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nickinson, File)
Conservative Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas also said they would have gone further and granted the teachers’ appeal to lift the restrictions imposed on them. The three liberal justices dissented, saying the case was still on its way to lower courts and no action was needed now.
“If nothing else,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote, “this Court owes it to a sovereign state to avoid hasty disposal of its policies, if the Court can provide normal procedures. Elimination of state policy is what the Court is doing today.”
A federal judge ruled In December 2025, schools cannot prevent teachers from sharing information about a student’s gender identity with their parents, but an appeals court blocked that ruling last month, prompting plaintiffs to ask the nation’s highest court to intervene.
The Supreme Court sided with the parents and reissued a lower court order blocking the law and school policies while the case continued. (Olivier Daulieri/AFP via Getty Images)
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The Supreme Court was considering whether to hear arguments in cases outside other states, such as Massachusetts and Florida, brought by parents who say schools facilitated gender transitions without notifying them.
The US Department of Education also announced last month that the California law violates federal law. The findings of the federal investigation could jeopardize the nearly $8 billion in education funding the federal government gives the state each year if state officials do not work with the Trump administration to resolve the violations.
The Trump administration is also taking legal action against California and threatening to withhold funding over a policy that allows biological males to compete in girls’ sports.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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