In 2023, two teachers from California filed a lawsuit and sought an exemption from their school district’s policies regarding students’ gender. Parents of California schoolchildren later joined the lawsuit. In the lawsuit, captioned as Mirabelli v. Bonta (Mirabelli), the parent plaintiffs contended that the policies violated their rights under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, as well as the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, because the policies prevented schools from telling them about their children’s efforts to engage in gender transitioning at school unless the children consent to parental notification. The parents additionally took issue with California’s requirement that schools use children’s preferred names and pronouns regardless of their parents’ wishes. The teacher plaintiffs objected to their compelled participation in the implementation of the policies.
Following the completion of discovery, the United States District Court for the Southern District of California granted summary judgment for all plaintiffs (teachers and parents), and entered a permanent injunction in their favor. The injunction prevented the schools from “misleading” parents about their children’s gender presentation at school and their social transitioning efforts. The injunction also required the schools to follow parents’ directions regarding their children’s names and pronouns, and compelled defendants – which included the school district and state officials – to include in state-created or approved instructional materials a notice of the rights protected by the injunction.
On appeal, the Ninth Circuit granted defendants’ motion to stay the injunction pending appeal. Thereafter, plaintiffs filed an application with the United States Supreme Court (the Court) seeking to vacate the Ninth Circuit’s stay during the pendency of the appeal.
On March 2, 2026, the Court granted plaintiffs’ application, and vacated the stay, but only with respect to the plaintiff parents. In granting the application, the Court found, in relevant part, “The parents who seek religious exemptions are likely to succeed on the merits of their Free Exercise Clause claim,” and “The same is true for the subclass of parents who object to those policies on due process grounds.” The full text of the decision can be found here.
If the New Jersey Department of Education and/or the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office issues new or updated guidance regarding transgender policies based on Mirabelli, the NJSBA’s Legal Department will provide timely updates.
For additional information about this matter, please contact the NJSBA Legal Department at (609) 278-5279 or your board attorney for specific legal advice.
