Giving Parents A Say in their Children’s Education –

Parental rights are paramount to the safety and well-being of a child. Our nation has consistently maintained that parents possess a fundamental right to raise their children as they see fit. This belief has been upheld in numerous Supreme Court cases that reflect the American people’s longstanding commitment to parental rights. According to California law, parents have the ultimate authority in imparting values around sexuality to their children.

The California Department of Education has approved several gender ideology books as “recommended literature” for school children in grades K – 5.  Despite the “Gender/Sexuality” topic identified by the State, the State doesn’t think parental notification or permission is needed to read these books. However, it is parents who have the fundamental right to have a say over the sex education their child receives in school. Parents are more in tune with their children than any other person, and they alone should be having these discussions with their children at these young ages.

Laws need to be strengthened to protect children from inappropriate sexual or gender identity education. Parents need to be kept informed about their child’s mental, emotional, and physical well-being, including what health services they are receiving at school. School districts need to be stopped from discouraging parental involvement in health decisions and parents need to be given the opportunity to decline health-related services for their children.

And while we must respect the rights and dignity of transgender students, we must also prioritize the safety, privacy, and fairness of women’s and girls’ school sports teams. Allowing transgender students who were born male to compete with women and girls raises legitimate concerns. Being on a sports team is an important part of the school experience for students of all ages and every student should be able to have the full experience of attending school in America, including participating in athletics, free from discrimination. However, we must protect biological women and girls, who have fought tirelessly for their rightful place in sports.

Sports are competitive, and like any competition, they should be played on a fair and level playing field. There are divisions, age brackets, and weight classes for a reason. College sports are for college athletes. Professional sports for professional athletes. And female sports should be for female athletes. Allowing biological men to compete in women’s sports compromises the hard-won progress women have made in achieving equal opportunities in athletics. We need to find solutions that respect and protect the rights of all individuals while also preserving the integrity and fairness of women’s sports.

Title IX ensures that no one can be denied equal access to educational opportunities on the basis of sex and has played a significant role in giving women and girls competitive sports. Before the creation of Title IX, talented women, and girl athletes didn’t have the same opportunities given to men and boy athletes at school. Their teams might lack funding, they might be relegated to a recreation-only team or, sometimes they might not even have a girls’ team on which to play. With Title IX, women and girls finally had the opportunity to compete on a level playing field against other women and girls, with similar opportunities as men and boys. Historically, Title IX has been used — by the ACLU itself — to advance women’s opportunities. Now, the ACLU wants to exploit Title IX to let biological men and boys steal those very opportunities.