Community Support at School Committees Works in Rhode Island
Last Thursday, the Cumberland School Committee had a meeting to discuss and vote on whether or not they would implement an amended version of their trans student policy. In short, the proposed amended policy would require "designated school personnel" to disclose a student's transition (e.g: a request to change name/pronouns) to the student's parent or guardian.
You may be wondering why this is happening now, or what prompted school committees in RI to begin working disclosure into its trans student policies. Well, this all stems from the March 2026 SCOTUS case Mirabelli v. Bonta, where the Supreme Court decided that any law or policy prohibiting schools from disclosing a student’s LGBTQ+ identity to their parent/guardian is not enforceable. You can read more about the case here.
It feels like we have been here before, and that is sort of true.
Back in 2024, The Womxn Project and numerous other allies/ally groups were going around the state and standing up to funded hate group organizers who were trying to overthrow RI Department of Education policy around the concept of “Parental Rights.” TWPEF organized a program called Empowered to Advocate that was held in 17 different areas with a range of speakers and an illustrative note taker to make the work more accessible.
The "Parental Rights" movement is a right-wing movement, and its goal is to stop schools from teaching students topics related to race, gender, sexuality, and more. At its core, it's a white, Christian nationalist movement that is trying to disguise itself as a group of innocent, concerned parents. Unlike 2024, however, the Parental Rights movement now seems to be making some headway in the legal system, and that’s with Mirabelli v. Bonta.
When a policy is implemented that requires a trans student’s identity to be disclosed to their parent or guardian, it puts that student's health, stability, and safety at risk.
In Cumberland’s proposed amended policy, they had attempted to address this by requiring designated school personnel to work with the student and assess the risk associated with outing them to their parents/guardians. However, this does not mean that their assessment will be accurate, nor does it mean they will act in the best interest of the student.
Time and time again, we hear stories about children and teens who are subjected to cruel and abusive treatment from their parents after coming out as trans– even in cases where those parents have no history of abusive or cruel behavior. It is not uncommon to hear stories about children and teens who have been sent away to conversion therapy or disowned as a result of being trans. Parents have mentally, physically, and emotionally harmed their children over this. Having safeguards in place, such as the risk assessment in Cumberland’s proposed policy, is not enough to effectively determine how a parent/guardian will respond, and whether or not the student will be safe after the fact.
There is currently no legal obligation for schools to disclose a student’s transition to their parent/guardian, and therefore, there is no reason for any school in Rhode Island to be implementing such policies. School should be a safe space for ALL students, and students should feel as though they are able to be their authentic selves when they’re there, especially if they feel they can’t be their authentic selves at home.