One of the aims of the movement is preventing schools from using the
preferred pronouns or chosen names of
transgender and
non-binary youth without disclosing to or gaining permission from parents.[4] More broadly, it aims to prevent the teaching of
LGBT issues in public schools without parents' agreement.[2] The parental rights movement was brought to mainstream attention with the passage of the
Parental Rights in Education Act in
Florida, colloquially known as the "Don't Say Gay" law, by governor
Ron DeSantis. Since then, the movement has expanded across the US and Canada.[5][6]
Additionally, the parental rights movement has sought to increase parents' control over how children are taught about sexuality and race relations.[2]
Proponents of the movement have claimed that they aim to prevent indoctrination of children by
LGBT activists.[7][4]
Opponents of the movement argue that parental rights legislation endangers children by possibly
outing them to abusive guardians.[8][9][10]
Definition
Jen Gilbert, a professor at the
University of Toronto's
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education defined the movement as "a conservative movement to limit the influence of government in people's lives...more generally around the schooling, the parental rights movement has emerged as a movement to limit discussions of sexuality and gender in schools under the auspices of both protecting children and protecting parents' rights to raise children as they see fit".[3]
The phrase "parental rights" has been used by groups with a spectrum of political, social and religious affiliations.[3]
Starting in 2020, parental rights activists in the United States have sought to regulate how race is taught in schools. Prompted by
protests after the killings of
George Floyd and
Breonna Taylor, schools increasingly added antiracist texts to their curricula and
diversity, equity, and inclusion measures to their policies and practices. Advocacy from the parental rights movement led to a backlash against those trends, and a wave of laws and regulations—often codified as anti-
critical race theory rules—were passed in 2021. Legal scholar
LaToya Baldwin Clark connects the 2020s activism to historical backlash from White parents to "contestations over race" like
desegregation.[16]
Parental rights advocates have worked to restrict
education on sex or sexuality since at least the 1990s. According to research by the
Public Religion Research Institute, the movement's failure to substantially shift norms in public education led to many conservative Christian parents to withdraw their children from public schools and move to homeschooling or private schools.[17]
In 2022, the US state of
Florida passed the
Florida Parental Rights in Education Act, regulating all
public schools in the state. The law prohibits public schools from having "classroom discussion" or giving "classroom instruction about sexual orientation or gender identity from
kindergarten through
third grade or in any manner deemed to be against state standards in all grades; prohibits public schools from adopting procedures or student support forms that maintain the confidentiality of a disclosure by a student, including of the gender identity or sexual orientation of a student, from parents; and requires public schools to bear all the costs of all lawsuits filed by aggrieved parents."
During the
nomination of Justice
Ketanji Brown Jackson in 2022, senator
Marsha Blackburn accused Jackson of having a "hidden agenda" to restrict parental rights and expand government reach into schools.[18]
As of 2023, 20 states have had their legislatures introduce derivative bills of the Parental Rights in Education Act, including
Arizona,[19]Georgia,[20]Iowa,[21][22]Kentucky,
Louisiana,
Michigan,[23]Missouri,[24]Ohio,[25]Oklahoma,[26]Tennessee, and
South Carolina.[27][28] In April 2022, Alabama became the second state to pass a similar bill, with governor
Kay Ivey signing House Bill 322, legislation which additionally requires all students to use either male or female bathrooms in Alabama public schools based on their biological sex. Some states have had similar provisions to Florida's law since the 1980s, though they were never called "Don't Say Gay" bills by critics until the 2020s.[29][30]
Many potential candidates for the
2024 Republican Party presidential primaries made parental rights a major theme of their platform. Focusing on school literature with racial or sexual content, parental control over curriculum, and LGBT education, possible candidates like
Glenn Youngkin,
Ron DeSantis, and
Donald Trump have endorsed the goals of the parental rights movement. Coverage in
CNN has described this use of "parents' rights" as "an umbrella term for a host of cultural issues".[31]
Canada
In 2009,
Alberta passed an act that—while enshrining the rights of sexual minorities—also included a provision that would give parents the option of pulling their children out of lessons when topics related to sex, religion, or sexual orientation were taught.[3] At the time it was referred to as a "parental rights clause".[32]
Prior to the start of the 2023 school year, the province of
New Brunswickaltered a policy affecting both formal and informal name changes at school, and the ability of students to choose their preferred pronouns. The revised
Policy 713 (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Policy) denied students under the age of sixteen the right to make changes to their personal preferences without first receiving parental consent.[33] The province's Minister of Education,
Bill Hogan, stated that the policy review which led to the changes had been prompted by complaints from parents.[34] The policy review was controversial, and along with concerns about Premier
Blaine Higgs's leadership style, led to calls during the summer for a review of his leadership of the
Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick.[35] In response, the
Christian conservativeactivistFaytene Grasseschi started a campaign called "Don't Delete Parents", encouraging people to sign a petition in support of Higgs, to pledge support for "pro-parent" political candidates, and to promote the idea that tax dollars should "follow the family" if parents chose to withdraw their children from the public school system in favour of home schooling or private schools.[36][37]
In the same year,
Saskatchewan also introduced policy requiring parental consent for children who wished to change their names or pronouns in school and placing restrictions on sexual health education.[38] Following a judicial injunction against the policy, Premier
Scott Moe announced that he would invoke the
Constitution's
Notwithstanding clause to override the decision and bring the policy into law.[39] On October 20, 2023, the government invoked the notwithstanding clause and passed the
Parents' Bill of Rights.[40] A national Christian lobbying group called "Action4Canada" has taken credit for influencing the
Saskatchewan Party government towards the policy.[41]
In September 2023,
Ontario Premier
Doug Ford accused
school boards in the province of "indoctrinating" students on gender identity,[7] and stated that parents should be involved with decisions around pronoun use at schools.[4][42]
Federally,
Conservative Party of Canada members adopted a resolution to prohibit "medicinal or surgical interventions" for gender-diverse and transgender kids at the party's 2023 policy convention.[44] Party leader— and leader of the Opposition—
Pierre Poilievre has said that schools should leave LGBT issues to parents.[45]
In 2023, the "1 Million March 4 Children" was a series of parental rights protests carried out in various cities throughout Canada.[46][47] The protesters included adults and students, who claimed that children were being exposed to inappropriate topics regarding sexuality and gender identity and that students in some Canadian schools were being encouraged by teachers to change their pronouns and get "
body-altering surgery" without parental knowledge.[46][48] The protests drew significant
counter-protests.[46][48]
Europe
France
In 2022, following the addition of a gender-neutral pronoun to French dictionaries, French Minister of Education
Jean-Michel Blanquer insisted that it was "not the future of the French language" and banned its use in schools.[49][50][51]
Ireland
In Ireland, groups such as
Irish Education Alliance and religious bodies such as the
Catholic Secondary School Parents Association have opposed the government's introduction of mandatory education about gender identity, pornography, and sexuality, which they perceive as overriding the
ethos and rights of parents and schools.[52]
Impact on LGBT children
Critics of the parental rights movement include parents,[53] teachers,[54] students,[53][55] human rights groups,[56] and corporations.[57] They argue that policies which forcibly
out LGBT children can be damaging or life-threatening to those with unsupportive families.[58][59] Such policies have garnered significant concern due to the claimed potential for adverse consequences, including emotional distress, harm to mental well-being, and life-threatening situations for those affected.[60][61]
A result of parental rights-focused policies is that forcibly outing individuals can exacerbate issues such as
depression,
anxiety, and
self-esteem problems, potentially leading to long-term emotional scars and negatively impacting their overall quality of life.[62]
Additionally, critics highlight that the parental rights movement's insistence on parental control over a child's disclosure of their LGBT identity can perpetuate
discrimination and
prejudice. By prioritizing parental rights over a child's autonomy, these policies may inadvertently discourage open and honest communication within families, hindering the ability of LGBT youth to seek support or understanding from their loved ones.[63]