Federal appeals court rules for Maryland school district policy preventing the outing of trans, gender nonconforming children

On Monday, trans kids got another court victory. 

From NBC Out:

A federal appeals court on Monday ruled that a group of parents could not challenge a Maryland school district’s policy against telling parents if their children identify as transgender or gender nonconforming.

 A 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled 2-1 that three parents in Montgomery County, Maryland, lacked standing to challenge the policy because they had not alleged their children were transgender in the first place. The policy, which the Montgomery County Board of Education adopted for the 2020-2021 school year, permitted schools to develop gender support plans for students to ensure they “feel comfortable expressing their gender identity.” 

 The policy directs school personnel to help transgender and gender-nonconforming students create a plan that addresses their preferred pronouns, names and bathrooms, and bars staff from informing parents of those plans without a student’s consent. Lawsuits are pending challenging similar policies in other states. 

The Maryland case was the first to be argued before a federal appeals court. Three parents backed by the National Legal Foundation, a Christian conservative group, argued the parental notification policy infringed their due process rights under the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment to direct the care of their children. But U.S. Circuit Judge A. Marvin Quattlebaum said the parents lacked standing to pursue their “compelling arguments” because they had not alleged their children had gender support plans or were transgender. That rendered their opposition a mere “policy disagreement,” he said.

This marks - by my count - the fourth court victory for trans kids in August. Earlier this month, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against an Ohio school district's gender-inclusive bathroom policy. In addition, courts in Indiana and Ohio awarded victories to trans kids in cases involving anti-bullying policies and bathroom usage.

'Far right attacks 'It Gets Better' after group donates $600,000 to students' & other Mon midday news briefs

Far Right Attacks It Gets Better After Group Donates $600k to Students - Blah, blah, blah 'groomers' blah, blah, blah "indoctrination and sexualization" "leave the kids alone." The far right can go to hell. LGBTQ kids attend schools and anything helping them (particularly in this climate) to be successful and safe is a good thing. 

Court blocks Idaho law restricting trans students’ restroom use​ - Laws like this one have no logical foundation. They only appeal to prejudices and fears. Glad to see that courts are recognizing this. 

Ron DeSantis’s “anti-woke” policies have led to a serious brain drain in Florida - Florida will continue to suffer until Floridians stop getting taken in by people like DeSantis. 

A Conservative Pundit Is Really Scared About Wayne Brady Being Pan - Guess who?

'You should have died in the f@king closet' & other Fri midday news briefs

 

Parents’ rights protestor tells LGBTQ+ advocates to go hang themselves - Ugly but the video above and this article needs to be seen. Folks need to see these folks when their "concern for the children" masks drop. 

Maryland Families Sue Over LGBTQ Public School Readings - This is ridiculous because it has nothing to do with sex at all. These parents don't want their kids to hear about any LGBTQ people. No doubt the forces behind this is hoping for a big lawsuit but if they get one, even a victory will hurt them. Religion is being weaponized. 

 'Heartstopper' books temporarily removed from Mississippi public library - Completely ridiculous. 

Teen's claim of seeing a naked trans woman and getting kicked off of her swim team because of it was a complete lie - My post from last night.

Teen's claim of seeing a naked trans woman and getting kicked off of her swim team because of it was a complete lie

The media and others flock like vultures when there are stories of alleged misbehavior of trans women. Notice how quickly they disappear when the story turns out to be false. The following is proof. But thanks to the folks at Assigned Media (a WONDERFUL webpage doing great work to expose anti-trans propaganda) and LGBTQ Nation (doing its usual excellent news coverage), I caught this story.

From Assigned Media:

The story of a transphobic teen that Fox News claimed had been kicked off her swim team after seeing a trans woman changing has completely fallen apart. Abbigail Wheeler, a 16-year-old who was asked to leave the YMCA for the evening after she admitted to being behind signs with anti-trans messages that had been tacked up all over the locker room the night before. 

Wheeler’s misbehavior, and the mild consequences it engendered from the Y, were portrayed as victimization of the teen on Fox and elsewhere in the right-wing press. As the full details of the incident have become clear it seems that Wheeler and her family made misleading and false statements that helped to inflame public opinion resulting in an anti-trans protest at the Kerasotes branch where this occurred. 

 According to LGBTQ Nation, the protest was where Wheeler first admitted that parts of the story were false. Calling the widespread reports that she’d seen a trans woman naked a “miscommunication” Wheeler clarified that she did not see any trans women naked or observe their private parts.

With regards to this, the LGBTQ Nation article pointed out:

During her July 11 and 12 interviews on Fox News, Wheeler said she saw the trans woman naked. But at the rally, she called this a “miscommunication,” saying, “To be clear, I did not see the [person] naked, and no [human] genitalia was exposed.” 

 During her Fox News interviews, she also said she was kicked off of the swim team after posting signs at the YMCA that said “Women’s Rights,” “Biological Women Only,” and “SafeSport.” However, a May 29 email from Wheeler’s mother to her daughter’s coach clearly says, “We have decided to remove Abbigail from the SPY swim team.”

 In other words, her parents removed her from the team. In addition, according to LGBTQ Nation, the signs she put up misgendered the trans woman and falsely claimed that she was threat to other women:

The signs said, “Men are not welcome here,” “Women Need Rights, Men Already Have Them,” “In case anyone is unawar [sic], I feel as a concerned member to share this shocking news. Transgenders [sic] are now using the womens [sic] locker room. They have been for a while now. Please feel free to share/spead [sic] the world [sic],” “Girls Rule, Boys Drool,” and “Women Deserve to be Safe Here.”

Assigned Media also said that the incident may have actually involved two trans women and both have come forward to tell their side of the story:

Christina Newton and Candice Clotfelter have come forward to describe their interaction with the teen to the Illinois Times as well as local TV news. They describe an interaction starting with Wheeler staring at them when they were sitting together talking on a bench at the Kerasotes Y. When they asked if they could help her, the teen told them they were in the women’s locker room, to which they replied that they were women. Both women had their bathing suits on during this interaction (they further explained to the local reporters that they changed their clothes inside of bathroom stalls).

Lastly, Assigned Media pointed out this situation is the latest in a pattern of false stories circulating designed to scare people about trans women in locker rooms.

The false stories are part of a pattern of exaggerated stories about interactions between cisgender girls and trans women at YMCAs across the country. This story most closely resembles one from a California Y in January where an older teen was widely reported to have seen a penis when, in reality, the woman in question was post-surgery and had no such organ to see.

 In Ohio this past February, a trans woman was targeted for prosecution by local officials, charged with indecent exposure for changing in a YMCA women’s locker room. She was found not guilty due to not having broken any law, and again no evidence of any cisgender woman or girl seeing her private parts while she was changing was ever presented. 

The existence of three such similar YMCA scandals in a few months suggest there may have been some effort on the part of anti-trans activists to manufacture flashpoints of this type.

Conservatives relied on transphobia for Issue 1 in Ohio to pass. They never stood a chance.

 

The above nauseating campaign ad was an unsuccessful attempt by Ohio conservatives to convert anti-trans hysteria into a win at the polls even though trans issues didn't have anything to do with the vote at hand. 

 Allow me to move backwards. First let's talk about the vote which took place Tuesday night. 

 From The Associated Press:

 Ohio voters on Tuesday resoundingly rejected a Republican-backed measure that would have made it more difficult to change the state’s constitution, setting up a fall campaign that will become the nation’s latest referendum on abortion rights since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned nationwide protections last year. The defeat of Issue 1 keeps in place a simple majority threshold for passing future constitutional amendments. It would have raised that to a 60% supermajority, which supporters said would protect the state’s foundational document from outside interest groups. 

 While abortion was not directly on the special election ballot, the result marks the latest setback for Republicans in a conservative-leaning state who favor imposing tough restrictions on the procedure. Ohio Republicans placed the question on the summer ballot in hopes of undercutting a citizen initiative voters will decide in November that seeks to enshrine abortion rights in the state. 

Issue 1 had nothing to do with trans issues, but its supporters, hoping to capitalize on the anti-trans sentiment taking place in states and their legislative bodies across the country, said that it did.  A right-wing organization, Protect Women Ohio, ran commercials such as the one above and brought in Republican personalities such as former VP Mike Pence and Kari Lake to repeat false talking points about how Issue 1 would lead to "trans ideology" forced in classrooms and "sex changes" for children.

It didn't matter that none of this was true.

Issue 1 supporters even held a religious rally Sunday before the vote:

Prominent activists are urging Ohio voters to support a measure that would require constitutional amendments to pass with support from 60% of eligible voters, warning that parental rights and the safety of minors hang in the balance as voters are also scheduled to weigh in on a ballot measure that would establish a right to abortion in the state. 

 The advocacy group Catholics for Catholics held a Prayer Rally to Save Ohio’s Children in Norwood, Ohio, Sunday. The event took place two days before Ohioans are scheduled to go to the polls to vote on the fate of Issue 1, a referendum that would require proposed constitutional amendments to secure 60% support from voters to take effect instead of a simple majority. 

 The purpose of the rally was to encourage Ohioans to Vote “Yes” on Issue 1. As explained by Catholics for Catholics, “Issue 1 is part of a fight culminating this November over a ballot measure that would enshrine abortion in the Ohio Constitution and limit parents’ legal right to consent to what procedures are done to their children.”

One of the speakers was Chloe Cole, a woman who claims that she was trans but detransitioned only after surgery to remove her breasts when she was a teen. Her story has yet to be verified, but still Cole has made a name for herself by testifying in front of legislative bodies for laws which would deny trans kids any form of gender-affirming care.  She is supposedly suing Kaiser Permanente healthcare system, but others have pointed out that the lawsuit is highly suspect.

At the rally, she tailored her story as a reason to pass Issue 1:

Cole added that several states have passed measures banning sex-change procedures for minors in state legislative sessions before warning that the failure to pass Issue 1 might result in the erosion of “the victories that we have achieved.” She called on attendees to “let this state be an example for Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota and the rest of the country that is so grappled by the pseudo-science” behind the push to provide children with irreversible gender transitions. 

 “Children are relying on us, as parents, older brothers and sisters, educators, doctors, as adults to guide them towards a healthy adulthood filled with opportunity,” she added. “I hear a lot of talk in this state about Issue 1 and reproductive freedom but that seems to end when we start talking about the fact that children are having their right to reproduce taken away from them with sterilizing drugs that are used to convert healthy girls and boys into just a mimicry of the opposite sex. Where are their reproductive rights?”

And now we are back where we began. Issue 1 never stood a chance because voters simply didn't buy it. And folks on Twitter were quick to point out how badly the anti-trans angle failed:

Chloe Cole was brought in to help Issue 1 pass.
I guess the GOP didn't get a good return on investment here.

The GOP: We think you hate transgender people as much as we do. pic.twitter.com/q6YRMxTbxY

— Karleigh Chardonnay Webb (@ChardonnayM) August 9, 2023

Anti abortion group "Protect Women Ohio" spent a $1 million on this horrific anti trans ad to get Referendum 1 to pass and limit the ability for abortion rights to be voted into the Ohio constitution.

They lost badly. 63-37. Yet again, transphobia doesn't win elections. pic.twitter.com/glRneeoiwA

— Alejandra Caraballo (@Esqueer_) August 9, 2023

How it started, how it’s going.

Seriously, Republicans spent $2,000,000 on anti trans ads in a Republican state in Ohio tying issue 1 to gender affirming care for trans youth.

They are losing by a mile.

Anti trans politics does not work, and this is a taste of 2024 nationwide. pic.twitter.com/6gz57e6zF9

— Erin Reed (@ErinInTheMorn) August 9, 2023

Ohio Republicans tried to make issue 1 about trans rights.

They are now losing 63-37 in the referendum, which would have made it harder to provide constitutional protections.

They learn the lesson many others have: attacking trans people is not a winning political stance. pic.twitter.com/uNrJY6PiYS

— Erin Reed (@ErinInTheMorn) August 9, 2023

'O'Shae Sibley killing unites New York's Black LGBTQ community in grief and defiance' & other Wed midday news briefs

O’Shae Sibley’s killing unites New York’s Black LGBTQ community in grief and defiance - Far from over.

Trump-appointed judge orders Southwest lawyers to get 'religious-liberty training' from 'hate group': report​ - The Alliance Defending Freedom strikes again.

Related post - The Southern Poverty Law Center's report on the Alliance Defending Freedom. 

Wisconsin Police Department Fully Embraces Transgender Officer - Wonderful.

Federal judge dismisses lawsuit against Ohio school district's gender-inclusive bathroom policy

Yet another victory for trans kids. Don't think for a minute that I am sugarcoating the ugly political climate we are all facing. I am simply pointing out that even in the darkest of times, light exists, and hope and love never dies.

From The Independent:

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by America First Legal against an Ohio school district over its transgender bathroom policy. America First Legal filed the suit in November. The president of the organisation is Stephen Miller, who served as a senior White House adviser to former President Donald Trump. District Judge Michael Newman ruled on Monday that the organisation’s claims lacked standing, and the board’s new policy did not infringe on the parents’ free exercise of religion.

 “The [parents] do not have a substantive due process right to dictate to the School District which bathroom a transgender student must use,” Judge Newman wrote in the filing. “The School District’s bathroom policy applies evenly to all students, making no exception for anyone based on their religion, to allow each student’s identified gender to prescribe the bathroom to use.”

According to The Buckeye Flame:

The case centered on a trans student Bethel Middle School in Tipp City – 10 miles north of Dayton – who was granted access to a restroom corresponding with her gender identity. This set off contentious school board meetings and multiple lawsuits.

 . . . According to the lawsuit, student “Anne Roe,” transferred to Bethel Middle School in January of 2020. Her parents informed the school that their daughter was transgender and the school set up access for Anne to use single-occupancy restrooms scattered across school grounds. In an affidavit, Anne shared that this arrangement caused her to avoid going to the bathroom during the day, because the restrooms were “frequently occupied whenever she needed to use [them], and she felt ostracized, humiliated, and targeted by other students who taunted her for using the separate bathroom.”

 Anne’s parents requested that she be able to use the girls’ communal restroom in addition to the single-occupancy spaces. The school agreed to the request. The decision set off months of school board meetings that featured anti-trans rhetoric and two lawsuits: a state one – currently ongoing – regarding whether the board’s actions violated open meeting law and a federal one alleging that the school was discriminating against their cisgender children by allowing trans students’ access to restrooms.

All of this nonsense simply to stop one trans child from using the bathroom which corresponds with her gender identity. So unnecssary.