A court in Pennsylvania has decided that the Mt. Lebanon School District must let parents choose whether or not their children participate in lessons about transgender identities. This ruling surprised many local LGBTQ+ advocates.
On September 30, U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti stated that the school violated the rights of some parents when a teacher read two books about transgender people to her first-grade class on Trans Day of Visibility in 2022. The books, “When Aiden Became A Brother” by Kyle Lukoff and “Introducing Teddy” by Jessica Walton, have faced challenges and bans due to their LGBTQ+ content. The parents filed a lawsuit in June, claiming their constitutional rights were violated.
Judge Conti found that the school had previously allowed parents to opt their children out of other sensitive lessons, like animal dissection and religious stories, but did not offer the same option for the transgender storytime. She ruled that this was unfair and violated the parents’ rights. She emphasized that parents have the right to be notified in advance and to opt their children out of lessons on transgender topics just as they can with other sensitive subjects.
Moving forward, the school district must inform parents ahead of any discussions about transgender people or identities. However, the full impact of the judge’s ruling is still uncertain. Asta Kill, president of the local LGBTQ+ organization Lebo Pride, expressed confusion and concern about the ruling’s implications.
Lebo Pride had previously tried to contribute to the case by arguing that the school should protect transgender students and that allowing parents to opt out of discussions about trans identities could send a harmful message. However, Judge Conti rejected their request, saying their arguments were misleading and biased.
In her ruling, Judge Conti noted that during the 2021-2022 school year, no students at Jefferson Elementary School identified as transgender, and there were no reported complaints of harassment or discrimination against transgender students there. However, concerns about bullying and discrimination against LGBTQ+ students were raised by students from the broader Mt. Lebanon district, who reported that slurs and bullying were common, creating an unsafe environment. They urged school officials to implement policies to protect LGBTQ+ students.
