A state court in New Jersey has told a school district to stop outing trans kids to their parents in a ruling that has been hailed as “a major victory” by equal rights advocates.

The state of New Jersey sued the K-8 district in Hanover Township Public Schools, located in Morris County, as well as three other school districts in Morris and Monmouth Counties that made changes to state guidance that told schools to respect trans students’ gender expression and not out them to their parents.

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“This ruling affirms what concerned parents across the Garden State want: safe and affirming schools for all students. It also sends a powerful message to transgender and gender-diverse youth: your safety, your rights, and your ability to be yourself are not up for debate in New Jersey,” said Christian Fuscarino of Garden State Equality.

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The state policy has been in place for almost a decade, but the districts started modifying their own policies in recent years as the conservative movement descended into an anti-trans moral panic. Opponents of the state’s pro-trans policy said that it infringed on parents’ rights, while supporters said that the guidelines are necessary to protect students’ safety.

Hanover Township specifically listed changes to a student’s gender expression as a type of behavior with “an adverse impact” that would have to be reported to parents, according to NorthJersey.com.

The state sued the districts and won a temporary injunction in 2023 blocking their policies from going into effect. A state court then ruled in favor of the state, saying that the policy changes violated state anti-discrimination laws and risked outing LGBTQ+ students.

The districts appealed, and this past Monday the appeals court also ruled in favor of the state, saying that the lower court did not abuse its power in ordering the districts to not implement their policies. The appeals court did specify that their ruling is not about the substance of the case and “does not involve a determination concerning parental rights.”

The districts argued that the Fourteenth Amendment protects parents’ rights “to make decisions concerning the care, custody, and control of their children.” The judges did not agree with that position.

“All students in our state deserve to feel safe, supported, and respected,” Jeanne LoCicero, the legal director at ACLU-NJ, said in a statement. “Policies that target gender-nonconforming students violate anti-discrimination laws and the protections of our State Constitution.”

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