NJ school district drops transgender policy mandating that officials 'accept a student's asserted gender identity'



A New Jersey school district has abolished its policy on transgender students, which had mandated that officials “shall accept a student’s asserted gender identity; parental consent is not required," NJ.com reported.

What are the details?

The Freehold Township Board of Education voted 6-3 last week to throw out the policy, which also said students don't need to meet “any threshold diagnosis or treatment requirements” in order for district officials and staff members to recognize their gender identities, the outlet noted.

Freehold board president Michelle Lambert confirmed the vote to the outlet but did not specify why the policy was abolished: “Each board member voted for various reasons."

Superintendent Neal Dickstein in a letter sent to families the day after the vote said “a great deal of misinformation” was circulating about the policy, NJ.com said, adding that Dickstein didn't cite specific examples.

He did say that the abolished policy “does not translate to the forced outing of children as it is being interpreted by some,” the outlet added.

NJ.com said Freehold joined a number of other districts in the state that have "controversially" revised or dropped their transgender student policies.

In Union Township in Hunterdon County, the school board on Monday conducted a first reading of a motion to abolish the district’s policy on transgender students, the outlet said, adding that board president Lou Palma said the second reading will take place in December.

NJ.com said at least five other districts in New Jersey also recently dropped their policies on transgender students.

More from the outlet:

The changes come as state Attorney General Matthew Platkin and Sundeep Iyer, the director of the state Division on Civil Rights, are pursuing lawsuits against four school districts that passed policies requiring school staff to notify parents about gender-related requests and changes.

How are folks reacting?

A couple of commenters weighed in on the NJ.com story about the Freehold district abolishing its transgender student policy, with one noting succinctly on X: "Good."

Another commenter criticized the wording of the story: "You can tell where the writer stands as they frame the droppin[g] of the policy as controversial. Objectively though, by the definition of controversy, the policy itself is equally if not more controversial than dropping it. Yet only one action is framed as controversial."

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SCOTUS declines Christian college's appeal to fight Biden admin's transgender housing directive in advance



The Supreme Court declined to hear a Christian college's appeal to sue the Biden administration over a federal order the college says requires schools to house students based on gender identity rather than biological sex, The Hill reported Tuesday.

"The U.S. Supreme Court left this issue unresolved. The Biden admin must be held accountable, and Alliance Defending Freedom will continue to confront government overreach," Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel Julie Marie Blake told TheBlaze Tuesday in a statement.

"College of the Ozarks brought this challenge for one reason: The Biden administration was attempting to force them to open their dormitories to members of the opposite sex. Though the high court chose not to review this case, we are hopeful it will soon take up related cases—both challenges to the broad overreach of the Biden administration and the government’s repeated attempts to remove from law any real distinctions between males and females," Blake also said.

"Because the college's faith teaches that sex is based on male-female biology, not gender identity, the college assigns its dorms, roommates, and intimate spaces by sex and communicates that policy to students," College of the Ozarks explained in its appeal to the SCOTUS earlier this year, as reported in USA Today.
The College of the Ozarks filed a lawsuit in April 2021 over an executive order and an associated Housing and Urban Development directive it says could force the school to violate its beliefs by housing biological men in women's dorms and vice versa, as TheBlaze reported.

The College of the Ozarks, a Christian school, wanted to make dormitory assignments that correspond with students' biological sex.

Under Biden's executive order that required sexual orientation and gender identity to be considered when interpreting sex-discrimination aspects of federal laws, the school could potentially face a sex-discrimination action if it were to deny the request of a transgender student to be housed in the sex-segregated dormitory of his or her choice.

A federal judge rejected the College of the Ozarks' request to bypass the rule in May 2021, saying that it did not have standing since it had not, as yet, suffered injury. The school appealed, saying it did not have the opportunity to comment on the order before it went into effect, as explained in The Hill.

Today's unsigned order from the Supreme Court will allow the lower court's ruling to stand.

If the Biden administration were to take an enforcement action against the school, it is possible that school could file a new case. One such scenario might unfold if the school denied a biological male student's request to be housed in the women's dorms.

"It is wrong to force schools to open girls’ dorms, bedrooms, and shared showers to males, and ADF will do everything in its power to ensure that religious colleges remain free to protect the young women who attend their institutions. No matter what happens next: College of the Ozarks will continue to follow its beliefs," ADF senior counsel Julie Marie Blake said in a statement acquired by TheBlaze.

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'Attack' on children: Arizona governor vetoes 'discriminatory' transgender bathroom bill



Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs (D) vetoed a bill Thursday meant to prevent public school students from using bathrooms and locker rooms designated for the opposite sex.

"SB 1040 is yet another discriminatory act against LGBTQ+ youth passed by the majority at the state legislature," wrote Gov. Hobbs in a letter to Arizona state Senator Warren Peterson Thursday.

"As I stated in my veto letter for SB1001, I will veto every bill that aims to attack and harm children."

Senate Bill 1040 would have required schools to provide other accommodations for transgender students who felt uncomfortable using the facilities that correspond with their biological sex.

Those accommodations, however, would not involve providing access to bathrooms or changing rooms that match the child's gender identity while children of the opposite sex are present, as explained in the Hill.

In addition, the bill would have allowed families to sue if their children encountered a student of the opposite sex in a bathroom, changing facility, or sleeping quarters.

"Women and young girls deserve privacy and their own protected bathrooms, showers and locker rooms where they can have such privacy and are safe from the risk of sexual harassment or sexual violence," Arizona state Senator John Kavanaugh, the bill's sponsor, said in a statement acquired by the Tuscon Sentinel.

"Unfortunately, Democrat Legislators and Governor Hobbs are catering to an extremist culture by pushing 'gender neutrality' as a means to win political points from their liberal base while stealing dignity away from women and girls in the process," Sen. Kavanaugh also said.

Hobbs' predecessor, Gov. Doug Ducey (R) signed two bills in March 2022 related to transgender students, as reported by the Hill. One barred transgender athletes from competing on teams that do not match their biological sex. The other restricted health care professionals from conducting irreversible, transgender-related surgery and other medical interventions on children.

Gov. Hobbs vetoed four other bills the same day she vetoed SB1040, a feat that nearly doubles the previous record for other Arizona governors, according to the Washington Examiner.

The previous record was held by Gov. Janet Napolitano, also a Democrat. Like Napolitano, Hobbs is serving at a time when Republicans hold a majority in both the state's House and Senate, as the Arizona Mirror reported.

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Middle school teacher refuses to use transgender students' preferred names, pronouns due to her Christian faith — then she's forced to resign, lawsuit says



A former middle school teacher in Ohio said she was forced to resign after refusing to use transgender students' preferred pronouns due to her Christian faith, and now she's suing her former school district, Alliance Defending Freedom said.

What are the details?

ADF said its attorneys filed the lawsuit Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division, on behalf of Vivian Geraghty, who taught English at Jackson Memorial Middle School in Massillon.

The suit says Jackson Local School District officials forced Geraghty to resign in August because she refused to abide by the district's requirement that she use transgender students' "preferred names and pronouns." ADF argues in its suit that such a requirement is "unconstitutional" and violates her "sincerely held religious beliefs." The suit also says "scientific understanding" is behind Geraghty's "view that a person is male or female based on sex, not personal identity, and participating in a student’s social transition violates those beliefs by forcing her to communicate messages she believes are untrue and harmful to the student."

More from ADF:

The controversy began when two students asked Geraghty to participate in their social transition. This included using new names to reflect a new asserted gender identity for both students and using pronouns inconsistent with one student’s sex. The school counselor e-mailed Geraghty and several other teachers with instructions to participate in the students’ social transition. In response, Geraghty approached the principal with the hope of reaching a solution that would allow her to continue doing what she had always done: teach her class without personally affirming as true things that she believes are false and harmful.

The principal and his superior, the school district’s director of curriculum, instruction, and assessment, told Geraghty that “she would be required to put her beliefs aside as a public servant,” that her unwillingness to participate in a social transition in violation of her faith amounted to insubordination, and that continuing to teach consistent with her beliefs would “not work in a district like Jackson.” Further, the officials told Geraghty that, if she would not participate in the students’ social transitions, she must resign immediately.

“No school official can force a teacher to set her religious beliefs aside in order to keep her job," ADF legal counsel Logan Spena said. "The school tried to force Vivian to recite as true the school’s viewpoint on issues that go to the foundation of morality and human identity, like what makes us male or female, by ordering her to personally participate in the social transition of her students. The First Amendment prohibits that abuse of power. Jackson Local School District officials nonetheless forced Vivian to resign because she resisted this unconstitutional command and explained that it was her Christian faith that made her unable to participate in her students’ social transition.”

The lawsuit seeks Geraghty's reinstatement to her teacher position, compensation for lost wages, punitive damages, and a declaration that the district's policy is unconstitutional.

How did the school district respond?

"This district always will strive to provide a safe, comfortable environment for all of our nearly 6,000 students in which to learn," a spokesperson for Jackson Local School District told Fox News Digital when asked for comment about the lawsuit. "We have engaged legal counsel and we will have no further comment on pending litigation."

GOP candidate Karoline Leavitt blasts school transgender policy and defends parental rights



New Hampshire congressional candidate Karoline Leavitt blasted Manchester School District transgender policies Thursday morning, vowing to protect parental rights if elected to Congress.

The 25-year-old Republican candidate for New Hampshire's First Congressional District held a press conference Thursday morning to "call attention to the radical school policy in the City of Manchester that prevents teachers from informing parents of their child’s transgender status," Leavitt said.

"I believe that bureaucrats and politicians are absolutely misguiding children," she told reporters while standing outside the Manchester School District offices.

\u201cThis morning, I held a press conference to call attention to the radical school policy in the City of Manchester that prevents teachers from informing parents of their child\u2019s transgender status\n\nUnlike @ChrisPappasNH, I will always stand with PARENTS over Politicians!\u201d
— Karoline Leavitt (@Karoline Leavitt) 1664467235

Leavitt took issue with a Manchester School Board policy that prohibits school personnel from disclosing "information that may reveal a student's transgender status or gender nonconforming presentation to others unless legally required to do so or unless the student has authorized such disclosure."

Earlier this year, a Manchester mother sued the school district claiming that withholding her child's "transgender status" at school violated her rights as a parent. The school district said in legal filings that it has no "duty" to inform parents if their children identify as transgender or gender-nonconforming at school without their knowledge. A judge last week sided with the school district and dismissed the lawsuit, though the parent may still appeal.

Manchester school officials would not comment on Leavitt's press conference due to pending litigation.

Leavitt said the school transgender privacy policy "is pitting good teachers against good parents, and that should not be the role of government."

“We should not be allowing bureaucrats and politicians to stand in the way of the family unit,” she added. “It is the bedrock of our society.”

The candidate said voters should elect Republicans "up and down the ballot" because the GOP supports school choice, raising academic standards, and making sure parents "have a voice and a say in their child's education."

\u201cRepublicans are for\u2026\n\u2705 School Choice \n\u2705 Academic Excellence \n\u2705 Parental Rights \n\nDemocrats are for\u2026\n\u274c Powerful Teachers Unions \n\u274c CRT & Transgender Policy\n\u274c Labeling Parents \u201cDomestic Terrorists\u201d\n\nUnlike @ChrisPappasNH, I will put PARENTS over Politicians!\u201d
— Karoline Leavitt (@Karoline Leavitt) 1664472959

She slammed Democrats for representing teachers unions and criticized COVID-19 lockdown policies that closed schools and required masking and social distancing.

Leavitt is running against two-term incumbent Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) in a district that Democrats have held since 2016. She emerged victorious from a contentious Republican primary earlier this month and was endorsed by New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) on Wednesday.

Pappas has served in Congress since 2019 and most recently defeated Republican Matt Mowers 51%-46% to win reelection in 2020.

If she wins, Leavitt would be among the youngest people ever elected to Congress, having just turned 25 in August. New Hampshire conservative commentator Howie Carr has favorably compared her to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who took office at age 29 after the 2018 midterm election.

Texas school orders teachers to avoid telling parents about kids' trans, non-binary status: Report



A Texas school district is reportedly instructing its teachers not to "out" transgender or non-binary students to their parents.

What are the details?

According to training documents obtained by the Daily Caller, administrators at Round Rock Independent School District are teaching educators to avoid telling parents about their children's sexuality status.

A portion of one of the documents — shared with Walsh Middle School in Williamson County, Texas — states, "DO NOT contact their parents and out them to their families."

An anonymous teacher passed along the documents, which added that teachers should explicitly avoid "misgendering" a student.

"Apologizing profusely can draw unnecessary attention to or cause embarrassment for someone who uses gender-neutral pronouns,” the training document stated and guided teachers to use gender-neutral pronouns such as "they" or "them" whenever possible.

The documents warn that even well-meaning teachers and school counselors can be "dangerous" to the transgender student.

“They can ruin your entire life, get you kicked out of your home by your parents, or make other teachers treat you awfully and make your school experience miserable,” the slide said. “They can even get you killed by outing you without your permission, which they are usually expected to do.”

The district did not respond to the Daily Caller's request for comment in time for publication.

You can view the training documents here.

What was the response to this?

One parent told the outlet that she is appalled by the training.

“It is unacceptable that teachers have been trained to ‘not contact parents’ when parents should be the first people contacted,” the parent said. “Are they teaching children that it is OK to hide from parents? Are they intentionally grooming and prepping my children to be something that they might not want to be in the first place? What else are they hiding?”

Another parent and former high school teacher said that she was "shocked" to learn about the directives.

"Parents know their child best and have the right to know about a decision this consequential,” the parent said. “As a former high school teacher and parent of 4 children in the district, I understand that teachers are put in a difficult position.”

“If they are asked to refer to a student as an identity other than documented in school records, the teacher has the moral obligation and responsibility to communicate with the parents,” the teacher added. “It is troubling to think that teachers are being told to be secretive and circumvent a parent’s input on this weighty issue.”

An anonymous district teacher said that they were highly uncomfortable with the direction, which ran counterintuitive to effective teaching.

“The first time I was asked by a student to refer to themselves by a different gender, a different name and different pronouns I went to my principal and counselor for help, I have never received an email like that,” the unnamed teacher told the outlet. “I asked if I could contact the parents first to make sure that they were aware of this because I would want to know as a parent.”

“They told me no, that the child could get beat and maybe not be accepted by their family,” the teacher recalled. “I was to accept and comply. I cried in my classroom. I cried all the way home. That was two years ago.”

Supreme Court refuses to hear case on transgender student using preferred bathroom



The Supreme Court handed another victory to LGBTQ advocates this week by refusing to hear a case questioning the rights of transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms of their choosing.

On Monday, the top court declined a Virginia school board's request to hear a case concerning whether one of its students, Gavin Grimm, was legally entitled to use a bathroom that aligned with the student's gender identity rather than biological sex.

In an order, the court said simply, "The petition for a writ of certiorari is denied," before noting that Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito would have taken up the case. No further explanation was given.

By declining, the Supreme Court let a lower court ruling stand that prohibited Grimm's school board from forcing Grimm to use bathrooms for female students or separate unisex bathrooms. The court's decision falls in line with previous rulings on the matter, according to Forbes, and may signal the establishment of an official stance.

What are the details?

In 2015, Grimm, who was born a girl, sued the Gloucester County School Board over its bathroom policy after coming out as a transgender boy.

The complaint argued that the school's policy forcing transgender students to use separate bathrooms left Grimm feeling "stigmatized and isolated" and violated the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution and Title IX, which bans discrimination on the basis of sex.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which represented Grimm in the case, lamented that the school board "continued to exclude Gavin even after he began receiving hormone therapy (which altered his bone and muscle structure, deepened his voice, and caused him to grow facial hair), obtained a Virginia state I.D. card listing his sex as male, underwent chest reconstruction surgery, obtained a court order legally changing his sex to male under Virginia law, and received a new Virginia birth certificate reflecting that his sex is male."

The Supreme Court initially agreed to hear the case in 2016 after the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Grimm. But after the Trump administration overturned an Obama-era rule that directed schools not to discriminate on the basis of gender identity, the court changed its mind and sent the case back to a lower court for reconsideration in light of the new policy.

Last year, the Fourth Circuit again sided with Grimm in the dispute. But when the school board petitioned for the Supreme Court to finally consider the case, the top court balked.

What else?

In response to the news, ACLU senior staff attorney Josh Block said, "This is the third time in recent years that the Supreme Court has allowed appeals court decisions in support of transgender students to stand. This is an incredible victory for Gavin and for transgender students around the country. Our work is not yet done, and the ACLU is continuing to fight against anti-trans laws targeting trans youth in states around the country."

Grimm, who is now 22, added, "I am glad that my years-long fight to have my school see me for who I am is over. Being forced to use the nurse's room, a private bathroom, and the girl's room was humiliating for me, and having to go to out-of-the-way bathrooms severely interfered with my education. Trans youth deserve to use the bathroom in peace without being humiliated and stigmatized by their own school boards and elected officials."

In its petition, the school board had noted that "the question of how best to respond to a teenager who identifies with the opposite biological sex is often excruciatingly difficult."

"On the one hand, the teenager deserves and needs everyone's compassion," it said. "On the other hand, allowing the teenager to use multi-user restrooms, locker rooms and shower facilities reserved for the opposite sex raises what this Court has acknowledged to be serious concerns about bodily privacy — for the teenager and others."

The school board argued the case would be for the court an "ideal, timely vehicle" to settle the question over Title IX gender identity application. But evidently, the court thought otherwise.

Taxpayer arrested after Loudoun Co. school board declares 'unlawful assembly' blasts powers that be: Our 'First Amendment rights' were 'trampled on'



A taxpayer who was arrested for refusing to leave a raucous Loudoun County, Virginia, school board meeting Tuesday after an "unlawful assembly" was declared told Fox News' Tucker Carlson that "First Amendment rights" were "trampled on" by the powers that be.

What are the details?

"I was in a place ... where free speech has to happen," John Tigges told Carlson in a Wednesday interview. "If you want to redress your grievances about a school board, there's no other place you can do it than in a school board meeting."

The district and its board — as well as parents of students — have made numerous national headlines recently over the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, the teaching of critical race theory, "pornographic" content in assigned books, and LGBTQ issues. Furthermore, an elementary school teacher — a Christian — was suspended for voicing opposition to the district's transgender-affirming policies and then reinstated by a judge's order. And a 14-year-old student went viral after blasting the board for putting her in danger by allowing transgender students to use girls' locker rooms.

Tigges told Carlson the meeting was scheduled to run until 7 p.m. but that the board "shut it down" early after hearing applause "they didn't like."

The applause was for former state Sen. Richard Black blasting board members over their controversial policies:

The LCPS shut down the public input after the audience erupted in applause at the end of my speech. Hundreds of pa… https://t.co/3RMID2yLmQ

— Senator Dick Black (@SenRichardBlack) 1624407443.0

"You retaliated against Tanner Cross by yanking him from teaching for addressing a public hearing of this board," Black told the board angrily. "The judge ordered you to reinstate Mr. Cross because if his comments were not protected speech, then free speech does not exist at all. It's absurd and immoral for teachers to call boys 'girls' and girls 'boys.' You're making teachers lie to students, and even kids know that it's wrong. This board has a dark history of suppressing free speech. They caught you red-handed with an enemies list to punish opponents of critical race theory. You're teaching children to hate others because of their skin color, and you're forcing them to lie about other kids' gender. I am disgusted by your bigotry and your depravity."

Black's microphone was cut just before his last words, and the crowd began cheering.

The board unanimously voted to shut down the meeting after repeatedly issuing warnings about decorum and disruptions, WRC-TV reported, adding that parents chanted "Shame on you!" and raised their middle fingers.

Nearly 260 people had signed up to speak at the meeting, the station added.

But a school district spokesperson said "the meeting has degenerated" as the board shut it down and ordered people to leave, WRC said.

"Every single person there, all 500 parents, had their First Amendment rights trampled on by the Loudoun County school board and its superintendent," Tigges told Carlson in regard to the meeting that was declared an "unlawful assembly."

Tigges arrested

Tigges said he was arrested around 5:45 p.m. after attendees were ordered to leave the room. Video shows Tigges arguing with officers, telling them they're complicit in suppressing free speech, when one of them asks Tigges if he's refusing to leave the room.

"Yes, I'm refusing to leave," he replies to the officer.

"All right," the officer replies. "Deputies, please arrest this individual for trespassing."

And with that, Tigges was handcuffed.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

A separate arrest

WRC characterized Tigges' arrest as receiving a "summons for trespassing" but reported a separate incident as an arrest that involved a man who became disorderly and resisted officers, who tackled the man.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

As Tigges watched video of the separate incident during his interview with Carlson, he said it likely was "a complete leftist diversionary tactic that was preplanned, because no one that was lined up to speak was involved in any of that."

Carlson called the officers who arrested Tigges "stooge cops who should be ashamed of themselves."

Tigges admitted that the whole thing is "infuriating."

"There's such a high standard for free speech," he added to Carlson. "It is the most sacred of all of our rights, and it takes an amazing amount of justification to shut down free speech."

Parent arrested during school board meeting 'chaos' speaks out on 'Tucker'youtu.be

Anything else?

In an interview with the Federalist, Tigges characterized himself as a "taxpayer who is concerned about the moral decay across our whole country but specifically the indoctrination of children, and things that just aren't true." He added to the outlet that he's kept his kids out of Loudoun County schools but is still invested in the district's direction.

"I do care about my neighbors, and I care about friends that have kids there and the indoctrination that's going on is awful," Tigges added to the Federalist.

Two arrests made at the Loudoun County, Virginia school board meeting after it was declared an unlawful assembly an… https://t.co/VBmAzaNGPA

— Gabriella Borter (@gabriellaborter) 1624400479.0