What Happened
January and Jeffrey Littlejohn sued their child's middle school in Tallahassee after officials supported their 13-year-old's nonbinary identity without parental consent. The school had a 2018 policy requiring student permission before telling parents about gender identity changes. A lower court dismissed the lawsuit, and the Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal.
Why You Should Care
This affects whether your kid's school can use different names or pronouns for your child without telling you — a policy now in hundreds of districts nationwide.
📚 The Basics
The Supreme Court declined to hear a case about school policies on gender identity. Gender identity is a person's internal sense of being male, female, both, or neither, which may differ from the sex they were assigned at birth. Some schools have policies about how they address students who are exploring their gender identity, including whether to use different pronouns or names, and whether to inform the student's parents. Pronouns are the words people use to refer to themselves (like "he/him," "she/her," or "they/them").
🧠 Look Smart At Dinner
Say This
The Court's been all over the map on this — they blocked California's similar policy in March but just let Florida's stand.
Context
The Supreme Court has taken opposite positions on nearly identical school gender policies in different states this year, creating legal chaos.
Avoid Saying
Don't say 'the Court is anti-parent' — they literally sided with parents against California schools three weeks ago on the same issue.
The Approved Opinion™
“Schools and parents need to work together to support all students while respecting family values and student safety.”
