NWLC Condemns Supreme Court's Rush to Expand Religious Exemptions in Public Schools

WASHINGTON - March 2, 2026 - Tonight, the U.S. Supreme Court barred California from enforcing its guidance prohibiting schools from forcibly outing transgender students while lower courts consider a challenge to the policy brought by a group of objecting parents.

The decision reverses an earlier decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court and suggests that parents are allowed to assert religious exemptions to general school policies. The Supreme Court also asserts that parents have a due process right to make "decisions regarding their children's mental health," even though it ignored similar arguments from parents challenging a ban on access to transition-related care for transgender youth in last year's United States v. Skrmetti.

Gaylynn Burroughs, vice president for education and workplace justice at the National Women's Law Center, issued the following statement in response:

"When educators are forced to act as informants, students suffer. The Supreme Court's hasty decision disrupts the trust and stability that schools provide for students to learn and thrive.

"In its rush to expand religious influence in public schools, the Supreme Court prioritized religious exemptions over children's success and well-being and trampled on the rights and futures of transgender students without considering the full facts of the case. Trans youth - like all youth - deserve a school environment that is safe, inclusive, and free from discrimination."

The National Women's Law Center fights for gender justice-in the courts, in public policy, and in our society-working across the issues that are central to the lives of women and girls. We use the law in all its forms to change culture and drive solutions to the gender inequity that shapes our society and to break down the barriers that harm all of us-especially women of color, LGBTQ people, and low-income women and families. For 50 years, we have been on the leading edge of every major legal and policy victory for women.