A New Jersey school district is facing a federal lawsuit over a policy that critics say allows children to adopt different gender identities at school without their parents being informed.

The School District of the Chathams is being sued by Moms for Liberty, represented by the Thomas More Society, over district Policy 5145.7.

The litigation has received renewed national attention this week, including a September 8 Fox News appearance by Moms for Liberty New Jersey representative Alexandra Bougher discussing the controversy.

According to the lawsuit, the policy permits school personnel in certain circumstances to recognize a student by a different name, pronouns or gender identity without notifying the student’s parents.

The plaintiffs also challenge provisions involving bathrooms, locker rooms, athletics and potential referrals to outside organizations.

Moms for Liberty contends the policy violates parents’ First and Fourteenth Amendment rights and interferes with their ability to direct the moral and religious upbringing of their children.

The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey as Moms for Liberty v. School District of the Chathams Board of Education et al.

Federal docket records show the complaint was filed in late August.

Thomas More Society says one of the core disputes concerns whether a guidance counselor or other school official should be able to determine that information about a student’s gender identity will be withheld from parents.

The plaintiffs argue that decisions involving identity, mental health, morality and potentially medical care belong principally to parents—not public-school employees.

Fox News reported September 4 that the district’s policy allows a guidance counselor to determine whether parents are informed of a child’s gender transition at school.

The district’s defenders point to New Jersey nondiscrimination rules and state guidance intended to protect transgender students.

School officials and LGBT advocates have historically argued that involuntary disclosure could place some students in difficult or unsafe family environments.

That concern is at the heart of similar disputes around the country: advocates for confidentiality argue some children require protection from parents who may react negatively, while parental-rights advocates answer that government employees should not presume parents are dangerous merely because they hold traditional beliefs about sex and gender.

The Chathams lawsuit also challenges alleged compelled-speech provisions.

According to the complaint, students could face discipline related to the intentional refusal to use a classmate’s chosen name or pronouns.

The plaintiffs contend that raises separate First Amendment free-speech questions, particularly for students whose religious beliefs teach that humanity is created male and female.

Thomas More Society argues the policy conflicts with recent Supreme Court rulings involving parental rights and religious exercise.

The organization specifically cites Mahmoud v. Taylor and Mirabelli v. Bonta in arguing that public schools cannot substantially interfere with parents’ direction of their children’s religious and moral upbringing.

The Chathams school board has not accepted that interpretation.

According to the complaint and reporting surrounding the dispute, Board of Education President Ann Ciccarelli stated at a June meeting that the Supreme Court’s decision in Mirabelli was not binding on New Jersey public-school districts.

The plaintiffs dispute that interpretation and are asking a federal judge to declare the policy unconstitutional or block enforcement of the challenged provisions.

The case has not reached a final judgment.

At this stage, the allegations contained in the complaint remain the plaintiffs’ allegations, and the district will have an opportunity to defend its policy.

Still, the lawsuit represents part of a rapidly developing legal debate over parental rights, religious liberty and gender policies in public education.

And unlike abstract political arguments, these disputes concern decisions made every day between individual students, parents, teachers and counselors.

A Christian Perspective

For Christian parents, this question goes deeper than politics.

Scripture consistently assigns parents—not government institutions—the central responsibility for raising and instructing children.

Deuteronomy 6 commands parents to teach God’s truth diligently to their children.

Ephesians 6:4 tells fathers to bring children up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

That biblical responsibility becomes impossible to fulfill if a government institution deliberately withholds major information concerning a child’s emotional, moral or personal development.

Schools sometimes must protect children from genuine abuse.

Every Christian should support appropriate intervention when a child faces real danger.

But disagreement with a parent’s Christian beliefs is not abuse.

Believing that God created humanity male and female is orthodox Christian doctrine rooted directly in Genesis 1 and reaffirmed by Jesus in Matthew 19.

Government institutions cannot fairly treat that belief as evidence that parents are inherently unsafe.

There is another Christian consideration.

Children struggling with identity deserve compassion.

Mockery, cruelty and bullying are not Christian responses.

Every child bears the image of God and should be treated with dignity.

But compassion does not require adults to conceal important information from parents or affirm every conclusion a confused or distressed child reaches.

Truth and love belong together.

Christians should reject a false choice between attacking struggling children and surrendering parental authority.

A better approach treats children kindly, listens carefully, protects them from mistreatment and keeps parents involved except where there is actual evidence of danger.

The Chathams lawsuit may help courts define where those lines lie.

Whatever the outcome, Christian parents across the country should learn one practical lesson from the controversy:

Know your school district’s policies.

Read them.

Attend school-board meetings.

Ask whether parents are notified when children adopt different identities at school.

Religious liberty and parental authority are rarely lost all at once.

They are often surrendered quietly because nobody was paying attention.

Video to feature: September 8 Fox & Friends interview with Moms for Liberty New Jersey ambassador Alexandra Bougher.