Forcing California Values on Nevada’s Schools

Despite months of opposition from voters, the Nevada Department of Education has decided to ignore the opposition and are preparing to impose a dangerous new mandate concerning gender identity in schools.
Under the guise of “anti-bullying,” The Nevada Department of Education is implementing radical mandates on ALL Nevada public schools, including charter schools. Last year, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 225 which instructs the Department of Education to craft a policy that “addresses the rights and needs of persons with diverse gender identities.”
However, the NV DOE approved regulations go far beyond the language of SB 225. This sweeping regulation is not based upon a broad legislative enactment but rather a single sentence from SB 225.
This Thursday, August 30th, the Legislative Commission will make the final decision on whether or not those mandates are implemented on all Nevada schools.
Please contact every member of the Legislative Commission and urge them to oppose Governor Sandoval’s attempt to impose California’s gender policies on Nevada schools.
The new mandate would force all students to be taught that gender is a feeling, not a biological reality. If this regulation is approved on Thursday it will:
  • compel students to use words and pronouns that they may disagree with, violating those students’ First Amendment right to free speech;
  • strip students of their right to privacy when using showers, locker rooms, and restrooms and attending overnight trips or other school activities by requiring that they share intimate facilities with those of the opposite sex;
  • mandate the teaching of gender identity lessons and curriculum;
  • deprive students of competitive fairness in athletics by allowing biological males to play on teams that have been set aside for females; and
  • infringe the ability of faith-based student clubs and organizations to act consistent with their religious beliefs.
This new gender policy is a threat to our students, their safety, privacy, and freedom.
No Federal or State law requires school districts to create a new and expanded policy on gender identity or ideology.
 

Title IX 

The regulations implementing Title IX, along with the majority of case law interpreting Title IX, explicitly permit school districts to regulate access to showers, locker rooms, and restroom based upon students’ biological sex without violating Title IX.

 

SB 225 is not a mandate on local school districts. SB 225 mandates that the State Department of Education set guidelines for the training of school board members, teachers, and administrators to ensure all schools provide a safe and respectful learning environment. It does not force any district to implement any policy.

 

Public Accommodation Law 

NRS 651.070 – places of “public accommodation” include any establishment or place to which the public is invited or which is intended for public use. Places like schools, hotels, restaurants, bars, gas stations, casinos, theaters, retail stores, amusement parks, and zoos are examples of establishments covered by Nevada’s Public Accommodation Law. The statute does not mandate access to the private facilities within those establishments. Hotels, restaurants, and schools are intended for public use, however their restrooms and locker rooms are not.

 
No state law can strip students of their constitutional right to privacy.
 
Students have the fundamental right to bodily privacy and that right is clearly violated when students – much less kindergarteners – are forced into situations where members of the opposite sex may view their partially or fully unclothed bodies. No policy should force students into vulnerable interactions with the opposite-sex in restrooms, locker rooms, or over overnight accommodations.
Granting students access to opposite-sex changing areas could subject schools to tort liability for violating parents’ rights.
Parents have the fundamental right to control their children’s education and upbringing, including the extent of their children’s knowledge of the difference between the sexes.
Interaction between males and females in restrooms and locker rooms will necessarily result in students uncovering anatomical differences. These sensitive matters should be disclosed at home when parents deem appropriate, not ad-hoc in a school restroom.
Respecting such parental choices requires school districts to prohibit students from accessing restrooms and locker rooms dedicated to the opposite sex.
School districts have broad discretion to regulate the use of restrooms and similar facilities and to balance competing interests.
Public school districts enjoy broad authority and discretion in operating their schools. It should go without saying that this discretion includes regulating the use of school restrooms and similar facilities.
Under no circumstances should schools operate under the mistaken belief that federal law requires them to treat sex as irrelevant to the restroom, shower, or locker room that students may access.
Schools cannot command students to use words, pronouns, or engage in other expression that conflicts with their values and beliefs.
Unfortunately, school officials often trample students’ rights under the guise of attempting to prevent controversy and avoid offending other students. But this is not a permissible basis for compelling speech.
Parents and students alone have the right to determine what values are central to their lives. In the same manner, schools cannot command students to use words, pronouns, or engage in other expression that conflicts with their values and beliefs. To do so tramples students’ well-established rights and opens up schools to potential liability for infringing those rights.