June 3, 2026
Children’s Rights has joined the National Center for Youth Law and 16 other human rights advocacy organizations in signing an amicus brief urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to reverse a district court ruling that would require California teachers to disclose their students’ gender-identity information to parents without the students’ consent. The case, Mirabelli v. Bonta, was brought by teachers and parents claiming that the policies violated their constitutional rights.
A March U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of the plaintiffs means that, for now, California state policies protecting children from forced outing cannot be enforced against parents who object to them.
The amicus brief argues that the decision exposes students to unacceptable risks and violates students’ rights. It asserts that the district court’s rulings fail to consider children’s independent legal rights—contrary to case law that considers parental rights in conjunction with children’s own constitutional rights.
Research shows that children who control the timing and the manner in which they share their gender identity are more likely to be accepted by their families. Disclosing to parents a student’s request to use a new name and/or pronouns without their consent denies children autonomy in the uniquely personal process of exploring their identity. Instead of strengthening family ties, it can create a wedge between children and their families that may lead to parental rejection, mistreatment, and displacement.
In addition, as Children’s Rights’ deep expertise confirms, the district court was mistaken to assume that the child welfare system provides a safe alternative in cases where forced outing ruptures a parent-child relationship. Not only can child welfare interventions be harmful, invasive, and destabilizing, but also LGBTQ+ children face discrimination and abuse in foster settings at rates far exceeding their non-LGBTQ+ peers-–inflicting trauma that can last a lifetime.
Children’s Rights joins with our fellow amici in calling on the Court to recognize that youth have inalienable constitutional rights of their own, which parental rights cannot and do not erase.