Last month, MFI signed onto an amicus brief with our allies from across the nation in the case of Vitsaxaki v. Skaneateles Central School District. This case is currently before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which includes Connecticut, New York, and Vermont.
Jennifer Vitsaxati, the plaintiff in this case, filed a lawsuit against her local New York school district after the principal inadvertently revealed that the school had been using a different name and pronouns for her daughter, effectively “socially transitioning” the 7th grader without parental consent. When Vitsaxaki learned of this, she immediately requested that the school cease using the alternate name and pronouns. The school refused. In order to protect her child from this harmful ideology, Vitsaxaki withdrew her daughter from the district and filed a federal lawsuit. In this lawsuit, she claims a violation of her sincerely held religious beliefs under the Free Exercise Clause, as well as an infringement on her parental rights under the Fourteenth Amendment.
In March, the lower federal court dismissed the case because, incredibly, they found that the mother had not sufficiently alleged that the school had violated her rights.
Vitsaxaki appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in April. Represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, she argued that the lower court erred in its ruling and that the school district’s actions violated her constitutional rights as both a person of faith and a parent.
This case closely mirrors Foote v. Town of Ludlow, which MFI filed in 2022. In this case, Ludlow Public Schools pushed a 12-year-old female student to identify as transgender and deliberately withheld from her parents that she had started using a male name and pronouns. Earlier this year, the First Circuit ruled against the parents, but in partnership with the Child and Parental Rights Campaign, we are planning to submit a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking it to hear the case and overturn the decision.
As states like New York and Massachusetts continue to violate parental rights, it is vital that we stay engaged in these critical legal battles. We are proud to stand with our allies in supporting Alliance Defending Freedom and Jennifer Vitsaxaki in their pursuit of justice. As the brief states, we believe that parents, not the state, know what is best for their children.
Your generous support makes it possible for MFI to continue defending parental rights here in Massachusetts and across the nation. Please consider making a gift today.
Share this blog by clicking the icons below!
