A federal appeals court ruled parents don’t have a right to know if schools secretly help their children change gender identities, sparking nationwide concern.
Key Facts:
- The First Circuit Court ruled schools can transition children without informing parents.
- The case involves Baird Middle School in Massachusetts and a student known as B.F.
- B.F. began questioning her gender after receiving LGBTQ-themed videos on a school-issued device.
- School officials used B.F.’s preferred name and pronouns secretly, despite parents’ objections.
- The decision marks the first federal appeals ruling directly addressing parental rights on transgender issues.
The Rest of The Story:
In late 2020, B.F., a sixth grader at Baird Middle School, became uncertain about her gender after receiving LGBTQ-themed video suggestions on her school-issued laptop.
By February 2021, B.F. told school officials she identified as “genderqueer,” requesting they keep this hidden from her parents.
Educators complied, using her preferred pronouns and name secretly.
When parents Marissa Silvestri and Stephen Foote learned the truth, they demanded that the school stop influencing their daughter’s mental health.
School officials ignored them, continuing to engage privately with B.F.
The parents sued, arguing this amounted to unauthorized mental health treatment.
Yet, the First Circuit Court dismissed their concerns, ruling that school officials had authority over gender identity issues without parental approval.
This unprecedented federal ruling has heightened tensions nationwide regarding parents’ rights in education and transgender policy.
IDENTITY CRISIS: Parents Stephen Foote and Marissa Silvestri claim their child was encouraged by Ludlow Public School officials to adopt a new name and different gendered pronouns. https://t.co/oo5jLS0ifw pic.twitter.com/EBUeyZ1q8n
— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 17, 2022
Commentary:
This ruling is more than troubling; it’s outright dangerous.
Allowing schools to secretly change children’s gender identities without parental knowledge strikes at the heart of families’ rights and responsibilities.
It’s difficult to imagine any parent willingly entrusting their child to a system that deliberately excludes them from critical decisions affecting their child’s mental and emotional well-being.
Public schools once held respect as institutions supporting families and communities.
Today, too many schools act as if parents are obstacles rather than partners.
By empowering educators to keep secrets from parents, schools set a dangerous precedent that erodes family trust and authority.
What parent in their right mind would send their child to a public school that actively encourages students toward decisions as serious and life-changing as gender transitions, all while keeping parents in the dark?
Families will rightly see this as a threat, causing a mass exodus to private schools and homeschooling.
It’s alarming that a profession once highly respected—teachers and administrators—is now complicit in undermining parental rights.
Absolutely insane. Astounding court decision tells parents they had no right to know when daughter, 11, changed her gender identity https://t.co/57eN0bMony
— A.C. Spollen (@ACSpollen) February 24, 2025
Instead of supporting parents, schools increasingly position themselves as activists pushing agendas that many parents fundamentally oppose.
Unless the Supreme Court steps in and reverses this disastrous ruling, the future of public education looks bleak.
Families will abandon public schools in droves, seeking safer alternatives where their rights as parents remain protected.
Let’s hope the highest court restores sanity by reaffirming that parents—not schools—are the ultimate authority in raising their children.
The Bottom Line:
The First Circuit Court’s ruling could profoundly reshape public education, pushing more families toward private or home-school alternatives.
Without swift action by the Supreme Court, parental rights may be permanently undermined.
The stakes could not be higher for America’s families.
Read Next
– Trump Releases a Statement After Zelenskyy Says Peace is ‘Very, Very Far Away’
– British Prime Minister Keir Starmer Just Said The Quiet Part About The War in Ukraine Out Loud
– New Poll Has Good News For Trump and Terrible News For Democrats, They’re Toast