State Of NJ Sues 3 Monmouth County Districts Over Transgender Student Policies

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — Less than 24 hours after the Middletown school board passed a controversial policy regarding transgender students, the district was sued by the state of New Jersey.

In an 8-1 vote, the school board passed the policy Tuesday night and by Wednesday afternoon, NJ Attorney General Matt Platkin sued the district, plus Marlboro and Manalapan school districts, over their similar transgender policies.

In Middletown, teachers are now required to notify parents if their child seeks to officially go by a different name or gender pronoun, or use a different bathroom in school. Marlboro and Manalapan-Englishtown Regional school boards approved similar transgender policies this week.

The transgender policies of the three Monmouth County school districts directly defies the NJ Dept. of Education's own policy on transgender students, which says parents do not have to be informed of what their child does in school regarding gender.

Platkin says the districts are putting the safety of transgender students at risk by "outing" — a word he chose — the minors to their parents. Platkin said he considered his lawsuits "emergency" lawsuits to protect children and teens who are transgender or are questioning their gender or sexuality.

"'Outing' these students against their will poses serious mental health risks," said Attorney General Platkin. "It threatens physical harm to students, including risking increased suicides; decreases the likelihood students will seek support; and shirks the district’s obligation to create a safe and supportive learning environment for all. Indeed, LGBTQ+1 students in New Jersey and elsewhere have died by suicide after being outed."

• Here is the state's lawsuit against the Middletown school district
• The lawsuit filed against the Marlboro school district
• And the lawsuit against Manalapan-Englishtown Regional school district

The Attorney General also argues that transgender children are a protected class, and that the school districts are violating New Jersey's Law Against Discrimination.

The hot-button issue of how to best deal with transgender children and teens is turning into a showdown between Gov. Phil Murphy's administration and New Jersey parents over parental rights. By defying the state, NJ school districts such as Middletown risk losing state aid or even a partial or full state takeover, NJ 101.5 reported.

Middletown superintendent Mary Ellen Walker, who is resigning a year early from her position as of this week, did not immediately respond for comment. Nor did Middletown school board president Frank Capone. Middletown school district lawyer Bruce Padula, who wrote the controversial new transgender policy, also did not immediately respond when asked for a response to the Attorney General's lawsuit.

BOE vice president Jacqueline Tobacco said she would get back to Patch with a comment.

Capone and Tobacco both sit on the Middletown school board's policy committee and pushed for the new transgender policy to be created.

Additionally, AG Platkin is seeking a temporary restraining order against all three districts, seeking to prevent their transgender policies from going into effect until the state's lawsuits are resolved.

Some Middletown parents thank BOE

While many people spoke against Middletown's new policy at the BOE meeting Tuesday night (watch the meeting here), multiple parents also stood up and spoke in defense of it.

"I'm sorry that some of the people in this room feel that parents should be left out of the conversation," said Lincroft resident Anthony (last name not given). "I have four boys, and if one of them was thinking about becoming a girl I'd want to know, so I could give them the help they need; so I can support them. If they are telling a teacher in school, I hope the teacher would contact me and say 'Hey, this is what's going on with your kid.' Not so I can abuse them, not for any other reason so I can help them, be there for them. Parents are the most important people in kids' lives. And we want to know what's going on with our kids."

Another Middletown mom stood up and said the Middletown school district is is trying to stand up for parents' rights, and keep parents involved and aware of what's happening with their own kids.

"I am a parent of three children in the Middletown Township school district. I am in full support of the Middletown Board of Education to amend Transgender Policy 5756," she said, to claps from the crowd. "The LGBTQIA community claims to be an all-inclusion community, but instead they are here trying to advocate to not include parents. Their position interferes with my ability to help my children. And they keep telling young children that it is their parents' fault for not wanting to help them transition, and to be afraid of their parents. They are trying to get into young kids' heads by having them think that their parents are not safe. They are forcing children to turn to other people than their own family. It is not their job to decide what is appropriate in my home. My children belong to me and no one else."

What the three transgender policies say

The policy enacted by the Marlboro Board of Education requires schools notify parents or guardians of any student’s “change in gender identity or expression.” It also eliminates the requirement under prior Marlboro policy that the school address students by their preferred name and pronoun. The new policy now permits the district to deviate from a student’s preferred name and pronoun when “a parent/guardian of a minor student disagrees with the student regarding the name and/or pronoun to be used at school.” The new policy similarly eliminates the requirement under prior Marlboro policy that all students are entitled to access school facilities in accordance with their gender identity.

Meanwhile, the policy enacted by the Middletown Board of Education says that when a student “requests a public social transition accommodation,” such as an official name or pronoun change, a bathroom or locker room accommodation, or club or sports accommodation, the school is obligated to “notify a student’s parents or guardian” of the student’s “asserted gender identity.”

The policy enacted by the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional Board of Education says when a student “requests a public social transition accommodation,” the school must “notify a student’s parents or guardian of the student’s asserted gender identity.” It also states that for “students in grades Pre-K through 5,” the “responsibility for determining a student’s gender identity rests with the student’s parents/guardians,” rather than with the student.

Parental Notice OK'd In Manalapan, Marlboro BOE Transgender Policies (Wednesday)

Middletown BOE Approves Controversial Transgender Student Policy (Wednesday)

NJ Attorney General Now 'Reviewing' Middletown's Transgender Policy (Wednesday night)