A court in Wisconsin has ruled that the Madison Metropolitan School District cannot deceive parents about their child’s chosen gender identity at school.

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Dane County Court Judge Frank Remington issued a temporary injunction on Monday that impacts certain parts of the school district’s gender identity guidance on how school officials engage parents about a student’s gender transition. . . .

The parents challenged the school district guidance adopted in April 2018 that advises employees to assist students in their gender transition at school without notifying their parents.

WILL argues that the district’s guidance tells employees to “deceive” parents about the gender identity their son or daughter is identifying as at school and encourages teachers to have students’ permission to notify or speak with parents about issues relating to their gender identity.

The lawyers for the plaintiffs argue that the “Guidance & Policies to Support Transgender, Non-binary & Gender-Expansive Students” document violates parental and religious freedom rights enshrined in the state constitution. . . .

The school district is enjoined pending the plaintiffs’ appeal from enforcing any policy, guideline or practice that “allows or requires District staff to conceal information or to answer untruthfully in response to any question that parents ask about their child at school, including information about the name and pronouns being used to address their child at school.”

“This injunction does not create an affirmative obligation to disclose information if that obligation does not already exist at law and shall not require or allow District staff to disclose any information that they are otherwise prohibited from disclosing to parents by any state or federal law or regulation,” Remington wrote.

WILL Deputy Counsel Luke Berg said: . . .

“We are pleased Judge Remington issued this injunction that will require honesty when Madison Metropolitan School District staff interact with parents about critical matters impacting their child’s health and wellbeing,” he said.

According to The Wisconsin State Journal, the April 2018 guidance is not formally adopted school board policy but is an administrative guidance.

School district spokesperson Tim LeMonds disputed the conservative groups’ claim that school officials are instructed to deceive or conceal information from parents. In a statement given to local media outlets, LeMonds said that what is in question with the guidance is not an official policy.

“MMSD prioritizes working in collaboration with families to support our students and it is always our preferred method of support,” LeMonds said. “MMSD will continue to prioritize the safety and wellbeing of every individual student to the best of our ability.”

Arguments over the motion for temporary injunction were held last week amid the organizations’ appeal of an earlier denial to a request for the plaintiffs to proceed anonymously in the case.

The request for the plaintiffs to proceed anonymously without disclosure to the school district’s attorneys was again denied by Remmington, who initially denied the request in May.

“Furthermore, the inescapable effect of being anonymous, the court additionally finds that the Plaintiffs have not adequately demonstrated irreparable harm to them,” the order states.

(Excerpt from The Christian Post. Article by Samuel Smith. Photo Credit: Getty Images.)

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