ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — An Albuquerque Public Schools social worker has filed a federal lawsuit challenging a district policy governing transgender and gender-nonconforming students, alleging the rules require her to withhold information about a student’s gender identity from parents in violation of her First Amendment rights.
The Center for American Liberty filed the lawsuit Thursday on behalf of Jeanette Martinez, a licensed clinical social worker at Atrisco Heritage Academy High School who works with special-education students. Martinez’s duties include communicating with parents about students’ academic, behavioral and special-education needs, according to the organization.
The lawsuit challenges APS Procedural Directive PJ30, which says students have the right to use names and pronouns corresponding with their asserted gender identity at school. The policy also states transgender and gender-nonconforming students may decide when, with whom and how much private information about their gender identity they share.
When contacting the parent or guardian of a transgender student, staff are directed to use the student’s legal name and pronouns corresponding with the student’s sex assigned at birth unless the student or parent has specified otherwise. APS says the directive is intended to provide a safe learning environment and ensure equal access to educational programs.
Martinez argues the policy can require her to communicate about a student differently with parents than she does at school. Her attorneys contend that amounts to compelled speech and conflicts with her religious beliefs. Martinez requested a religious accommodation in April, which APS denied, according to the Center for American Liberty. The lawsuit alleges viewpoint discrimination, compelled speech and violations of the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause.
The case comes months after the U.S. Supreme Court addressed similar questions involving parental notification in Mirabelli v. Bonta, a challenge to California policies concerning students who socially transition at school.
In March, the Supreme Court granted emergency relief to parents who argued California’s policies violated their constitutional rights. In its unsigned opinion, the court said the parents were likely to succeed on their free-exercise claims and cited longstanding precedent recognizing parents’ authority over the upbringing and education of their children. The court also said the parents challenging the policies on due-process grounds were likely to succeed. The decision came while the underlying litigation remained pending and did not address APS policy. Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, with Kagan criticizing the court’s use of its emergency docket to address what she described as novel legal questions without full briefing and oral argument.
The APS lawsuit also comes amid debate over parental involvement in gender-support policies elsewhere in New Mexico.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga, a Santa Fe mother who has publicly criticized Santa Fe Public Schools’ policies, recently discussed changes to that district’s gender-support process on The Chile Wire. She said Santa Fe now requires parental involvement when a gender support plan is implemented but argued parents should be involved earlier in the process.
“I think it’s a step in the right direction, but nowhere near the transparency parents need,” Ojinaga said. She said the change would not have altered her family’s experience because it would not have required the district to notify her about another student’s gender support plan.
APS currently directs students or parents seeking a Gender Support Plan to contact a school principal or counselor.
Martinez’s allegations have not been adjudicated, and the lawsuit represents her claims against the district.
