A Dane County judge has issued an injunction halting the Madison Metropolitan School District from continuing with its gender identity policy.
The conservative law firm Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) filed the lawsuit in February on behalf of a group of parents, and a judge imposed the injunction last week, according to a WILL news release.
The parents allege that the school district's 2018 policy of allowing children to change their names based on the gender with which they identify without informing parents or changing the children's names in school records, violates the Wisconsin Constitution's due process clause and religious freedom guarantees.
WILL attorneys say the 14 anonymous parents from eight families who filed the suit don't have children who identify as transgender, but feel they have a right to know what their kids are doing in school.
Advocates believe the lawsuit itself is harming students and families.
"There's a lot that's been happening for them. And there's been a lot of attacks on the transgender community. I'm just concerned about, ultimately, the health and well being of our students," Brian Juchems, co-director of GSAFE told WKOW in February.
GSAFE is a community organization that works with families, students and schools to develop inclusive policies. Juchems says Madison's policy leads in best practices and has been a model for other districts.
To read more go to WKOW: https://wkow.com/2020/09/29/injunction-halts-madison-schools-gender-identity-policy/
Photo: WKOW