Supreme Court turns away Wisconsin parents who say schools are hiding transgender support plans as Alito dissents

The Supreme Court declined Monday to hear an appeal from a group of parents who say their Wisconsin school district is hiding transgender support plans involving their children.

The Supreme Court declined Monday to hear an appeal from a group of parents who say their Wisconsin school district is hiding transgender support plans involving their children. Three conservatives said they would have heard the case: Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas. While the Supreme Court didn’t say why it declined to hear the case, a lower court had ruled against the parents because, it said, they didn’t have standing to sue since they didn’t demonstrate the policy affected their children. “I am concerned that some federal courts are succumbing to the temptation” to rely on standing as a way of “avoiding particularly contentious constitutional questions,” Alito wrote. Parents Protecting Our Children was asking the high court to allow the lawsuit against the district to continue. The parents claim the school’s policy facilitates “gender identity transitions at school” and keeps the effort “hidden from parents who would disagree that it is in their child’s best interest.” Eau Claire Area School District officials counter that gender support plans are included in a student’s record and are available for parents to see. The policy, school officials said, is intended “to provide support to students who express concern about their gender identity.”