Supreme Court blocks California’s gender-transition secrecy in schools Becket filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting parents & teachers challenging California’s policy

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court today blocked a California policy that requires public schools to facilitate students’ gender transitions and keep it secret from parents. In Mirabelli v. Bonta, parents and teachers asked the Court to step in after a federal appeals court paused a lower court ruling and reinstated the secret transitions policy. Becket filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of the parents and teachers, urging the Court to recognize the right of parents to raise and educate their children according to their faith—a principle the Court recently upheld in Becket’s landmark victory in Mahmoud v. Taylor, a decision that recent polling shows a majority of Americans support.  

“Parents’ fundamental right to raise their children according to their faith doesn’t stop at the schoolhouse door,” said Mark Rienzi, president and CEO of Becket. “California tried cutting parents out of their children’s lives while forcing teachers to hide the school’s behavior from parents. We’re glad the Court stepped in to block this anti-family, anti-American policy.” 

California’s Department of Education issued guidance that directed public schools to treat a child as a different gender if the child so wished, and to hide that fact from the child’s parents, even lying to the parents if necessary. Schools were told to respect a student’s wishes about who could be informed—including whether parents would be told at all—and to avoid sharing that information except in rare situations. As a result, parents across California have been left unaware when schools begin treating their children as a different gender during the school day, and teachers have been forced into carrying out that secrecy.   

Catholic families involved in the case discovered that their children had been socially transitioned at school without their knowledge or consent, cutting them out of decisions central to their children’s upbringing and faith. In one family’s case, the parents learned what had been happening only after their daughter attempted suicide. Teachers also challenged the policy, arguing that being required to hide a student’s transgender status from parents violated their deeply held religious beliefs about honoring the role of parents as the primary guides in raising their children. In late 2025, a federal court blocked California’s policy, but days later, a federal appeals court put that ruling on hold. On January 8, the parents and teachers filed an emergency application asking the Supreme Court to restore their hard-won protection, and today the Court granted that request.

Recent polling from Becket’s 2025 Religious Freedom Index shows that a national majority agrees with these families, with 73% of Americans believing that parents are the primary educators of their children.

“This is a victory for parental rights, religious freedom, and common sense,” said Rienzi. “Once again, the Supreme Court has made clear that parents do not take a backseat to anyone when it comes to raising their kids, especially not government bureaucrats.”

The parents and teachers are represented by LiMandri & Jonna and Thomas More Society. The case now returns to the Ninth Circuit for further proceedings. 

For more information or to arrange an interview, contact Ryan Colby at [email protected] or 202-349-7219.