Supreme Court blocks California ban on telling parents about gender transitions

The Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for schools in California to notify parents if their children want to change their gender identity without the student’s consent, amid a challenge to the Golden State’s ban on so-called forced expulsions of transgender students.

The court granted an emergency appeal by the Thomas More Society, a conservative legal group, blocking at least for now a state law that would ban automatic parental notification requirements if students change their gender expression or pronouns at school.

The Thomas More Association praised the decision as “the most important parental rights decision in a generation.” Two groups of Catholic parents represented by the legal group argued that the state law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2024 caused schools to mislead them and secretly facilitate students’ gender transitions.

But California has maintained that students have a right to privacy regarding their gender expression, especially if they fear rejection by their families, who may not support their decision to adopt a new gender identity. The state also said school policies and state laws attempt to balance student privacy with parental rights.

Last year, state education officials told school districts that state policy “does not mandate confidentiality.” Newsom’s office also previously said that “parents continue to have full and guaranteed access to their students’ education records as required by federal law.”

The Supreme Court sided with the parents Monday and reinstated a lower court decision blocking the law and school policies while the case continues.

“Parents who claim free exercise have sincere religious beliefs about sex and gender and feel a religious obligation to raise their children in accordance with those beliefs. California’s policies violate those beliefs,” the majority wrote in an unsigned order. The majority wrote an unsigned order, adding that state policies also impose a burden on the free exercise of religion.

The Thomas More Association praised the decision as “the most important parental rights decision in a generation.” (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)

Conservative Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas also went a step further and said they would accept teachers’ call to lift restrictions on them. Three liberal justices dissented, saying the case was still pending in lower courts and no action was needed at this time.

“If nothing else, this Court owes it to a sovereign State to refrain from overly dismissive of its own policies if the Court can provide normal procedures. And tossing aside a State’s policy is what the Court is doing today,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote.

Federal judge ruled It said in December 2025 that schools could not prevent teachers from sharing information about a student’s gender identity with parents, but an appeals court blocked that decision last month, prompting plaintiffs to ask the nation’s highest court to intervene.

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The Supreme Court sided with the parents and reinstated the lower court’s decision blocking the law and school policies while the case was pending. (OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

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The high court is considering whether to hear arguments in lawsuits filed by parents who say schools in other states, such as Massachusetts and Florida, facilitated gender transition without notifying them.

The U.S. Department of Education also announced last month that the California law violated federal law. The federal investigation’s findings could put at risk the nearly $8 billion in education funding the federal government provides to states each year unless state officials work with the Trump administration to resolve violations.

The Trump administration is also taking legal action against California, threatening to cut funding over a policy that allows biological males to compete in girls’ sports.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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