Gavel – Photo: Tingey Injury Law Firm, via Unsplash; Transgender Pride Flag – Photo: Lena Balk, via Unsplash.
A typically conservative-leaning U.S. appeals court has upheld the right of an Ohio school district to enforce policies against bullying transgender students, including prohibitions on cyberbullying and misgendering them.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Olentangy Local School District, finding the district’s policies did not violate the free speech rights of children by forcing them to engage in compelled speech.
The district — which serves more than 23,000 students — had sought to bar bullying of other students, based on a variety of characteristics, including race, sex, disability, and religion, and to prohibit would-be bullies from using cell phones and personal devices — including off-campus — to embarrass, harass, humiliate, intimidate or threaten students, reports Reuters.
As part of its anti-bullying policies, the district also prohibits students from misgendering transgender students or using pronouns that don’t align with their gender identity.
Parents Defending Education, a Virginia-based conservative nonprofit, sought an injunction to block the district from enforcing the policies. The group argued that the prohibition on misgendering violated the First Amendment rights of students who were raised to believe that people cannot transition from one sex to another.
In July 2023, a federal judge ruled that the pronoun policy fells within a series of exceptions outlined in a 1969 U.S. Supreme Court decision that allows schools to regulate speech that might be disruptive to the overall learning environment in schools. Parents Defending Education subsequently appealed the decision to the 6th Circuit.
On July 29, 2024, a three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit split 2-1 in favor of the district. The two justices in the majority found that the anti-bullying policies didn’t compel certain speech, as those who deny transgender existence could simply choose not to use pronouns when referring to transgender classmates, according to the Courthouse News Service.
Writing for the majority, Circuit Judge Jane Stranch, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, ruled that the district could impose restrictions if they believed that misgendering of transgender students might spark confrontations between students. Comparing the pronoun policy to the district’s other prohibitions on discrimination or harassment, Stranch said that blocking the anti-bullying policy would create “an immediate risk of harm” to all students by opening them up to verbal abuse and harassment.
“These and similar rules are commonly and constitutionally imposed, regardless of the extent to which they restrict students’ preferred messages, to protect the basic educational mission of public schools,” Stranch wrote. She was joined in her opinion by Circuit Judge Stephanie Davis, a Biden appointee.
She also drew a distinction between voicing opinions about gender as fixed and binary, and directly misgendering someone, writing: “Sharing controversial religious beliefs is different from describing a Mormon student as not a real Christian. By the same token, discussing sex and gender identity is different from using non-preferred pronouns to state that one’s transgender classmate is not really a girl. The district is entitled to recognize that speech about students’ identities is particularly harmful.”
Circuit Judge Alice Batchelder, a George H.W. Bush appointee, dissented, claiming that the district was turning students into “captive subjects” and requiring them to accept transgender identity as valid. She likened being transgender to a political viewpoint to which cisgender students have a right to object, and argued that the district had failed to show how using biological pronouns to refer to fellow students would be disruptive to the classroom or school environment.
“The First Amendment forbids the district from compelling students to use speech that conveys a message with which they disagree, namely that biology does not determine gender. The district court, like the district itself, chose to accept, adopt, and then enforce this viewpoint — thereby rejecting and prohibiting any student from expressing a contrary viewpoint,” she wrote.
A spokesperson for the Olentangy Local School District told NBC affiliate WCMH-TV said the district is “committed to facilitating maximum learning for every student.”
“The district’s policies on harassment and bullying prohibit the intentional and repeated targeting of another student when it causes an intimidating, threatening, or abusive educational environment,” the spokesperson said. “We are pleased that the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decision affirmed the constitutionality of our policies, and we remain committed to creating a safe and inclusive environment for all of our students.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill prohibiting school districts from requiring teachers and administrators to notify parents if a child requests to be addressed by a different name or pronouns, or to access a bathroom or school activities that do not align with their assigned sex at birth.
The Support Academic Futures & Educators for Today's Youth (SAFETY) Act was sponsored by Assemblymember Chris Ward (D-San Diego) and the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus.
It was proposed in response to policies passed in several districts in conservative-leaning areas of the state.
An Ohio judge ruled that Ohio's law banning transgender youth from seeking out gender-affirming care can take effect immediately. The law also contains provisions preventing transgender girls from participating in female-designated athletic activities.
Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Judge Michael Holbrook rescinded an earlier order he had issued in April blocking state authorities from enforcing the law.
He ruled that the ban doesn't violate the Ohio Constitution's health care freedom amendment, or an Ohio law requiring legislation be limited to a single subject, reports The Columbus Dispatch.
According to polling data recently released by Gallup, a razor-thin majority of Americans continue to believe changing one’s gender is morally wrong.
The same data, from Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs poll, conducted in May, show a substantial majority of Americans are opposed to bans on gender-affirming care for minors.
While this polling is relatively in line with data from since 2021, the independent Trans Legislation Tracker shows a clear increase in anti-Trans legislation starting in 2020, with 85 bills, versus 32 in 2019 and 155 in 2021.
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