Court Unanimously Rules To Halt District Policy That Forces Students To ‘Respect’ Gender Identity

An Eighth Circuit Court panel of judges unanimously ruled Friday that an Iowa school district’s policy requiring students and staff to “respect” their classmates’ gender identity was “unconstitutionally vague,” according to the court documents.

Parents Defending Education (PDE) filed a lawsuit against Linn Mar Community School District in August 2022 over a policy that would hide student’s “gender support plans” from their parents and required both staff and students to “respect” someone’s gender identity. The court determined that the district’s policy was “unconstitutionally vague” and decided to grant a preliminary injunction, temporarily halting the enforcement of the policy, according to court documents.

“Due to the vagueness of the policy, the case is remanded with directions to grant a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the portion of the policy prohibiting an intentional or persistent refusal ‘to respect a student’s gender identity,'” the ruling reads.