Supreme Court rejects bid to punish school for respecting trans student’s identity

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to revive a Florida lawsuit that sought to punish a public school for respecting a transgender student’s identity, leaving intact a lower court ruling that LGBTQ+ advocates say protects young people from being forcibly outed at home.

The decision in Littlejohn v. School Board of Leon County came just one week after the justices also declined to hear a similar Massachusetts case involving parents who objected to a school honoring their child’s request to use a different name and pronouns without immediately informing them. Together, the cases suggest the Court is, for now, unwilling to create a nationwide rule requiring schools to out transgender and nonbinary students to their families.

The Florida case was brought by January and Jeffrey Littlejohn, parents of a Tallahassee middle school student who, at age 13, asked school staff to use a different name and they/them pronouns. School officials followed district guidance and created a support plan allowing the student to be affirmed at school without immediate parental notification.

Related: Supreme Court passes on case over outing trans students

The parents sued, calling it a “secret gender transition plan” and arguing the school violated their constitutional rights by withholding information about their child’s gender identity. Their petition said the district had “secretly driven a wedge into the parent-child relationship” and unlawfully “usurp[ed] the parent’s role.”

The decision arrives as Republican-led states, including Florida under Gov. Ron DeSantis, have made parental notification and restrictions on transgender students central to broader political attacks on LGBTQ+ rights in schools.

LGBTQ+ advocates have long warned that forced outing policies can put transgender youth at risk, especially in homes where rejection, abuse, or homelessness are real possibilities. For them, the case was never just about pronouns. It was about whether schools could be compelled to expose vulnerable students to harm under the banner of parental rights.

Related: Conservative Supreme Court justices curb California’s effort to shield transgender students from forced outing

Lower courts sided with the school district.

A federal district court judge dismissed the lawsuit, and the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision, finding that school officials were trying to support the student rather than harm the family relationship. The court said the conduct did not rise to the level of a constitutional violation and did not “shock the conscience,” the high standard required for such due process claims. The appeals court emphasized officials sought to help the child, not injure the parents.

By declining to hear the case, the Supreme Court let that ruling stand.