California’s state policy is that schools cannot tell parents if their children decide to engage in "gender transitioning" at school — unless the children agree to let their parents know. Educators must comply with this secrecy, even if they want to tell the parents.
Not surprisingly, parents and teachers are taking issue with this lack of transparency. Some of them took their case all the way to the Supreme Court — and found support.
From the Catechism
From #2221
On March 2, 2026, the Supreme Court temporarily ruled in favor of parents in Mirabelli v. Bonta. The decision is seen as a victory for supporters of parents’ fundamental rights. In the decision, the judges wrote (emphasis added):
The State argues that its policies advance a compelling interest in student safety and privacy. But those policies cut out the primary protectors of children’s best interests: their parents…
Under long-established precedent, parents — not the State — have primary authority with respect to “the upbringing and education of children.”
Gender dysphoria is a condition that has an important bearing on a child’s mental health, but when a child exhibits symptoms of gender dysphoria at school, California’s policies conceal that information from parents and facilitate a degree of gender transitioning during school hours. These policies likely violate parents’ rights to direct the upbringing and education of their children.
Parents in California found that this policy caused harm to their families. The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty explained:
Catholic families involved in the case discovered that their children had been socially transitioned at school without their knowledge or consent, cutting them out of decisions central to their children’s upbringing and faith. In one family’s case, the parents learned what had been happening only after their daughter attempted suicide.
Teachers also challenged the policy, arguing that being required to hide a student’s transgender status from parents violated their deeply held religious beliefs about honoring the role of parents as the primary guides in raising their children.
Some 73% of Americans believe that parents are the primary educators of their children — in keeping with the court’s ruling — according to recent polling from Becket’s 2025 Religious Freedom Index.
LiMandri & Jonna and Thomas More Society represented the parents and teachers in this case. Thomas More Society wrote about the case:
The inviolable and natural bond between parents and child is a gift that cannot be replaced. That is precisely why Thomas More Society will continue to advocate on behalf of teachers, parents, and school districts who are speaking out and challenging school policies and state laws that violate parents’ rights and hurt children.
It’s important to know, however, that the decision is not permanent. The Supreme Court Justices granted an emergency appeal that blocks the law and policies for now, while the case continues in lower courts.
Nonetheless, the decision is being hailed as a win. Paul M. Jonna, Special Counsel at Thomas More Society, said:
This is a watershed moment for parental rights in America. The Supreme Court has told California and every state in the nation in no uncertain terms: you cannot secretly transition a child behind a parent’s back.
