Judge blocks New Jersey schools parents' rights push over gender identity
Fox News correspondent Nate Foy says a final decision in the case could 'take years' on 'The Faulkner Focus.'
A new poll shows an overwhelming majority of New Jerseyans support notifying parents of their child's gender identity expressed in public schools across the state despite a push from state officials that cracked down on three school districts in the Garden State.
Data released by Monmouth University on Tuesday shows that three in four New Jerseyans (77%) feel that middle and high schools should "be required to notify parents if their child wants to be identified as a different gender than what is on their school registration."
The percentage increases to 81% when asking parents only, consistent with the number of Independents who support parental notification, but less than the 92% of Republicans who showed support.
Numbers showed even a majority of Democrats surveyed (61%) say schools should keep parents informed about their child's gender identity.
A person holds a transgender pride flag as people gather on Christopher Street outside the Stonewall Inn for a rally to mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York, June 28, 2019. (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
Findings come after state Attorney General Matt Platkin's emergency lawsuits brought against three school districts resulted in a state judge issuing a temporary injunction last week, blocking district policies that required schools to notify parents.
"Even if this notification is not required, 55% of state residents say it would be better for the school to let the parents know of a student’s gender identity request while 41% say this is something the schools should let the student and their parents deal with on their own," a release issued by the Monmouth University Poll read.
Eighty-one percent among minors' parents believe informing parents should be a requirement while 59% still believe parents should be notified even if disclosing the information is not required.
Additionally, findings showed that a majority of parents (58%) believe transgender students should use facilities that correspond with their biological sex – or sex assigned at birth – rather than their current gender identity. At the same time, a majority (55%) also support establishing more inclusive spaces, such as gender-inclusive bathrooms, for students to use regardless of gender.
Requirements for placing students in sex education courses among peers that correspond with their biological sex had similar findings, with 54% supporting placing transgender students in classes that align with their biological sex.
Meanwhile, concerning gender instruction in class, nearly half of state residents surveyed (45%) say schools are doing "too much" with the topic while 23% are content with the amount and 16% say schools aren't covering the topic enough.
Parents gather outside a courthouse in Monmouth County, New Jersey, on Tuesday, Aug. 15. (Fox News)
"It does seem clear that a large cross section of New Jerseyans are uncomfortable with discussing these issues in elementary school even though the state has different gender identity education standards for various grade levels. An open question is to what extent those distinctions are understood by the public," Patrick Murphy, the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute's director said, according to Tuesday's press release.
Some parents caught in the crossfire between school districts and state officials still lament that the discussion is taking place at all.
"[Gov. Phil Murphy is] suing the taxpayers. He's suing the people who don't agree with him. It's a political agenda," Brian Mason, a father of seven, told Fox News Digital earlier this year.
"People are worried about the cost of the lawsuit, but what about when I sue Middletown because a guy goes into the locker room with my daughter?" he added.
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Ann Marie Lusquinos, a New Jersey parent who has students in one of the districts caught up in the legal battle, also spoke with Fox News Digital about the topic.
"I get a phone call if my kid is absent. I have to sign permission slips for everything, whether it be medicine or whether it be field trips or a syllabus," she said. "And for the attorney general to turn around and say that we can be involved in all that but not involved if our child decides to go by a different gender or a different name? That it’s okay to keep from us?"
For more Culture, Media, Education, Opinion and channel coverage, visit foxnews.1eye.us/media
Fox News' Teny Sahakian contributed to this report.
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