WASHINGTON D.C. — Independent Women’s Law Center (IWLC) and a coalition of 38 other amici filed an amicus brief in Christin Heaps v. Delaware Valley Regional High School Board of Education, supporting a parent’s right to raise a child according to the parent’s values.
In this case, New Jersey school officials facilitated the social “transition” of the plaintiff’s daughter, referring to her by a male name and using male pronouns, all without parental notification and consent. The parents argued that the School Board’s policy mandating a student’s asserted gender identity violated the 14th Amendment and parental rights to direct a child’s upbringing. A New Jersey district court sided with the School Board and the parents appealed to the Third Circuit. The central issue on appeal is whether the school board policy violates parental rights and important decisions concerning a child requires parental consent.
Beth Parlato, senior legal advisor for Independent Women’s Law Center, said, “This case is not about politics—it’s about the fundamental rights of parents to direct the upbringing and care of their children. When a school district deliberately withholds critical information about a child’s identity or well-being, it undermines the trust essential to education and violates the constitutional rights of families. Parents don’t cease to be parents when their child walks into a classroom.”
In a similar case, Independent Women’s Law Center, along with a coalition of 54 other amici, filed an amicus brief last month to the Second Circuit in Vitsaxakin v. Skaneateles Central School District, fighting for parental rights and the protection of children against gender ideology indoctrination. In this case, New York school officials facilitated the social “transition” of the plaintiff’s seventh-grade daughter, and when confronted, the school lied to the parents about the secret transition.
Schools must be held accountable for violating parent’s fundamental, constitutionally recognized right to direct the upbringing of their children.
Heaps brief can be found here.
Vitsaxakin brief can be found here.
###
Independent Women advances policies that actually enhance opportunity and well-being.
Independent Women’s Law Center advocates for equal opportunity, individual liberty, and respect for the American constitutional order.
