Overview
- The Ninth Circuit granted California an emergency stay that pauses a class-wide permanent injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez on Dec. 22.
- The panel said it had serious concerns about the district court’s broad class certification and the sweep and clarity of the injunction, noting policies allow disclosure to protect a student’s wellbeing.
- The stay keeps in effect state-backed school policies that require use of preferred names and pronouns and allow staff to withhold a student’s gender identity from parents at the student’s request.
- Attorneys for the teachers and parent plaintiffs filed an emergency application with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to reinstate the injunction and also requested en banc review at the Ninth Circuit.
- California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office praised the stay as protecting vulnerable students and said the state is likely to prevail on appeal.