Attorney General Knudsen leads a 23-state coalition defending parental consent in schools

HELENA – Montana Attorney General led a coalition of 23-state attorneys general in filing an amicus brief today in support of a California mother who was wrongly shut out of her child’s gender identity decision by a school district, violating her longstanding and fundamental right to direct the care of the child.

In 2021, Aurora Regino’s daughter, A.S., was a fifth-grade student at the Sierra View Elementary School in Chico, California, when she began to experience anxiety and depression from her personal life. School officials allowed and encouraged her to socially transition to a boy without Regino’s permission or consent. The school’s counselor even advised A.S. not to tell her mother and suggested confiding in another family member instead. Regino filed a lawsuit against the school district claiming her constitutional rights were violated under the district’s flawed policy not to inform parents of such decisions unless given express permission by the student.

As the school year went on, A.S.’s feeling about being a boy lessened, amplifying her gender-related stress and anxiety since by that time her school community viewed her as a boy. Following a U.S. District Court decision that sided with the school district, the attorneys general are again urging the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to review the lower court’s dismissal of the case.

“For over a century, the Supreme Court has acknowledged parents’ right to direct the care and custody of their children under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause,” Attorney General Knudsen wrote. “A decision on how to address a child’s gender incongruity is a critical one that belongs in the realm of parental authority. Parents such as Regino should be afforded their right to be informed of and involved in decisions regarding their child’s mental health and well-being.”

Additionally, the school district violated Regino’s fundamental rights by making decisions about her daughter’s gender identity behind her back. The school district’s policy “requires all district personnel to refer to a student by a new name and pronouns at school if the student informs them of their new identity and preferred name and pronouns.” However, the school district may not inform the parents of their child’s decision “unless the student specifically authorizes the disclosure, except where disclosure to parents is ‘otherwise required by law’ or there is ‘compelling evidence that disclosure is necessary to preserve the student’s physical or mental well-being’” giving ultimate decision-making authority to the child and depriving parents of their “longstanding, primary role in ensuring their child’s safety and well-being.”

“The district’s policy gives ultimate decision-making authority to children and displaces parents’ longstanding, primary role in ensuring their child’s mental health, safety, and well-being,” Attorney General Knudsen wrote. “The policy goes a step further by obligating school personnel to facilitate the transition of a student who believes they are transgender and to hide this change from parents who may not approve.”

The same principle that protects minors by limiting their ability to vote, drink alcohol, or enlist in the military, also shapes school policies that affect students. For example, public schools typically require parental consent before a student can receive medication from the school nurse or participate in some activities. That same safeguard supports requiring parental consent before a child socially transitions at school.

In 2023, Attorney General Knudsen led an amicus brief asking the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to reverse a district court’s decision in Regino v. Blake. The Ninth Circuit then vacated the district court’s dismissal and remanded the case back to the district court. After reviewing the case again, the district court ruled once more in favor of the school and led to the attorneys general filing today’s brief.

Attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and West Virigina also joined the brief.