When an item related to possible human rights violations for trans and gender-diverse students is on a school committee meeting's agenda, we research and at times will activate a grassroots organizing plan that includes community members, alumni from that town, lawyers, ministers and more to show up and support LGBTQ+ students.

We have had many successes from 2024-2026 in standing up against hate at Rhode Island school committees and see success in the movement we have built, but know it is not over.

Why is this happening?
A national campaign to exclude trans and the gender diverse community from bodily freedom and create division among society at whole has been tested in some states and Rhode Island is no different.

Rhode Island IS different as there has been a growing advocacy space that includes a wide range of subject matter experts and a RI Department of Education policy in place that maintains the civil rights for ALL students in the state.

Legal Background
Trans rights in Rhode Island are protected under current RI policy and have been since 2016. Organized anti-trans bigots and fetishists have been seeking to provoke a friendly RI School Committee into changing local policy to strip protections from trans students.

Their ‘legal’ arguments rest upon a decision SCOTUS made, Mirabelli,  that requires California schools to disclose the gender status of students to parents if the parent asks. Schools do not have to proactively communicate here. This ruling only applies narrowly and does not change California law nor those protections for trans students. The law doesn’t constitute a precedent.

Two other cases, both shortly after Mirabelli, have more clear-cut issues. In Ludlow, the 1st Circuit (where rulings cover RI) said that schools do not have any duty to inform parents of student gender expression at school. The parents appealed to SCOTUS and SCOTUS refused to hear the case, leaving the policy in place.

That policy is very similar to the RI policy.

In a second case, Little John, the 11th Circuit upheld that the school was not required to contact parents about a gender support plan the school had developed for a 13 yo around their gender expression. SCOTUS refused to hear this case as well, leaving intact the ruling for trans student privacy in force.

--> Summary: Both the 1st and 11 Circuit courts have upheld trans protections in schools which the Supreme Court refused to strike down. These decisions are binding case law now, and binding in RI. Mirabelli is not binding case law.

--> Conclusion: Mirabelli does not require any changes in current RI trans protection policy. The current legally binding precedent for RI is that schools have no duty to communicate with parents about a student’s gender without the student’s prior agreement.