WI Schools Can't Change Student Pronouns Without Parent Consent: Judge

WAUKESHA, WI — A Waukesha County judge on Tuesday struck down a school district's policy of changing students’ names and pronouns at school without parental consent and over parental wishes.

The ruling comes after Wisconsin parents sued the Kettle Moraine School District in November 2021.

A couple argued that the district violated their constitutionally protected freedoms by insisting that school staff use a male name and male pronouns to address their daughter at school without their consent and over their objections.

"The School District could not administer medicine to a student without parental consent," Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Maxwellwrote in his opinion.

"The School District could not require or allow a student to participate in a sport without parental consent. Likewise, the School District cannot change the pronoun of a student without parental consent without impinging on a fundamental liberty interest of the parents."

The parents who sued the district were represented by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty and Alliance Defending Freedom.

"Parents’ rights to direct the upbringing and education of their children is one of the most basic constitutional rights every parent holds dear," said ADF Senior Counsel Kate Anderson in a news release.

"Yet we are seeing more and more school districts across the country not only ignoring parents’ concerns but actively working against them. The court was right to respect the serious concerns of these parents by holding that Kettle Moraine School District’s policy, which undermines parents and harms children, violates the Wisconsin Constitution."