In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Trump appeared to call for a ban on schools allowing students to socially transition — change their name, pronouns or gender expression — without parental consent.
In recounting the personal story of Sage Blair, a student at Liberty University, and her grandmother Michele Blair, who were in the gallery, he also raised the prospect of barring state agencies from separating transgender children from parents who choose to raise them without regard for their gender identity.
Michele Blair, a Virginia resident, sued the Appomattox County School Board and several of its employees. Ms. Blair is Sage’s paternal grandmother and adoptive mother, according to court documents. She has repeatedly testified in support of a Virginia bill known as “Sage’s Law,” which is designed to mandate that school personnel notify parents if a student identifies as a gender different from their biological sex. The bill has been introduced annually starting in 2023 but not passed.
Proponents of the measure argue that it protects parental rights and ensures that parents are involved in critical mental health decisions by their children. Critics characterize it as a “forced outing” bill that could endanger vulnerable youth whose families may not support their transition.
Ms. Blair has said that Sage was encouraged by school counselors to use a new name, male pronouns and the boys’ bathroom, leaving her unaware of the bullying and sexual harassment Sage faced from male peers. Ms. Blair said Sage had never identified as transgender. The court documents said Sage was experiencing gender dysphoria.
Notification requirements for children’s gender identification have become a focal point for school boards and in state legislatures in recent years. At least six states explicitly require school staff members to notify families that a student has requested to be called by a different name or to use different pronouns, according to the Movement Advancement Project, an L.G.B.T.Q. advocacy group. But many school districts have allowed students to socially transition — change their name, pronouns or gender expression — without parental consent.
“Surely we can all agree, no state can be allowed to rip children from their parents’ arms and transition them to a new gender against the parents’ will,” Mr. Trump said. “We must ban it.”
Seeing no reaction from Democrats, he said: “Look, nobody stands up. These people are crazy. I’m telling you. They’re crazy.”
Ms. Blair argued that the school officials’ failure to notify her of Sage’s gender preferences had violated her right to direct the child’s upbringing. In August, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld a lower court’s dismissal of that claim, writing that “under the facts alleged here, none support a finding that these rights are clearly established under the law.” But the three-judge panel said that Ms. Blair could move forward with a separate claim that the school had acted with “deliberate indifference” to threats against the child under Title IX, the landmark 1972 education law.
In the opinion, the panel referred to the child as a girl and abbreviated her given name as “S.B.,” based on Ms. Blair’s statement that S.B. had never identified as transgender.
The case stemmed from a two-week period in August 2021, when Sage — referred to in the documents as a 14-year-old girl who was experiencing gender dysphoria — was harassed, sexually assaulted and threatened at school after a school counselor advised that she could use the boys’ restroom.
Amy Harmon covers how shifting conceptions of gender affect everyday life in the United States.
The post Trump Calls for More Limits on Trans Youth appeared first on New York Times.
