New Jersey A.G. sues 3 school districts to block schools from ‘outing’ transgender students to parents

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin filed civil rights complaints Thursday to block three Monmouth County school districts from implementing parental notification policies requiring educators to out students based on their gender identity.

The action thrust the state into a growing national battle over transgender rights and LGBTQ+ expression in schools. It comes after Middletown Township, Marlboro Township, and Manalapan-Englishtown Regional Boards of Education adopted or amended school policies requiring staff to notify parents when gender-nonconforming students wish to change their names, be called by new pronouns, or request other accommodations.

Alleging that the notification policies discriminate against LGBTQ+ students, Platkin sought an order in Superior Court for an emergency injunction to prevent them from taking effect.

The attorney general’s move comes as the second legal challenge to a policy designed to strip rights from transgender or nonbinary students. In May, Platkin filed a civil rights complaint to block the Hanover Township school board from implementing a policy requiring school staff to out LGBTQ+ students to their parents.

The latest policies, approved by the school boards on Tuesday, pose a threat to students’ safety and mental health, Platkin said.

“In New Jersey, we will not tolerate any action by schools that threatens the health and safety of our young people,” Platkin said in a statement. “Simply put, these policies violate our laws, and we will not relent in protecting our LGBTQ+ community — especially our children — from discrimination.”

In a statement, Marc H. Zitomer, a lawyer representing the Marlboro Board of Education, disagreed with the state and said the district would collaborate with a student prior to parental notification. The district’s policy includes an exception if the notification would endanger the health or safety of the child, he said.

“However, it is our position that keeping parents in the dark about important issues involving their children is counterintuitive and contrary to well established Supreme Court case law that says that parents have a constitutional right to direct and control the upbringing of their children,” Zitomer wrote. “We are confident that the Board’s amended policy properly balances parental and student rights.”

Supporters say the policies protect parental rights and students from potential harassment and bullying by their peers. Advocates have targeted school library books, too, most frequently those about race, racism, gender, or sexuality.

“If the parents don’t know it’s going on, how do they help their child navigate?” said Nikki Stouffer, of Medford, a leader of NJ Fresh Faced Schools group. ”Why would you want to hide this information from parents? It’s just not fair.”

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Said state Sen. Anthony M. Bucco (R., Morris): “We should encourage schools to communicate more with parents, not sue to stop them.”

According to Platkin, the Marlboro policy would require the district to notify parents or guardians of any student’s “change in gender identity or expression.” It would allow the parents to determine what name or pronoun a student can use in school and eliminate a policy that gives students access to school facilities based on their gender identity.

The Middletown Board of Education proposal mandates that the school must notify a student’s parents or guardian if a student “requests a public social transition accommodation,” such as a name or pronoun change, a bathroom or locker room accommodation, or club or sports accommodation of the student’s “asserted gender identity.”

The Manalapan-Englishtown Regional Board of Education approved a similar policy to Middletown’s, adding that parents and guardians have the responsibility for determining gender identity for students in grades pre-K through fifth grade.

Middletown school officials did not respond Thursday to messages seeking comment, and Manalapan-Englishtown officials declined to comment.

In the court filings, Platkin contends the policies violate the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, which prohibits against discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression. The policies single out transgender students for differential treatment, by requiring parental notification for them, but not their peers, he said.

“School policies that single out or target LGBTQ+ youth fly in the face of our state’s long-standing commitment to equality,” said Sundeep Iyer, director of the N.J. Division on Civil Rights. “Our laws prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression, plain and simple, and we will not waver in our commitment to enforcing those protections.”

The attorney general’s last challenge resulted in an ongoing hold on the policy’s implementation. The Superior Court prohibited Hanover from enforcing the policy while the case is pending. Hanover school officials have said the state misinterpreted the policy.