[August 21, 2025] Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF) joined fifty organizations in a United States Supreme Court amicus brief supporting the petition of Foote v. Ludlow School Committee, a case brought by parents against a school district that secretly and unlawfully transitioned their daughter’s gender despite their clear directives not to do so.

Parents Stephen Foote and Marissa Silvestri learned that their daughter’s school district secretly met with their daughter and encouraged her to transition to a new name, new pronouns, and to use the boys’ bathroom. This was done after the parents hired a therapist for their daughter, knowing she was struggling with mental health, and expressly told the school not to engage in private conversations without their permission. They sued the school district in federal court for violating their parental rights, but the courts held that parental rights are diminished in public schools.

SLF argues in their amicus brief that the school district’s actions are an absolute affront to parental rights and the Constitution. The Supreme Court made it clear in its recent Mahmoud v. Taylor decision that parents have the fundamental right to raise their children consistent with their beliefs.

SLF argues, “Parental authority has long been recognized as the first form of government because it is ‘the most Sacred and Ancient Kind of Authority.’” Given that parental rights have been recognized since even before the Constitution was established, schools should not be in the business of taking drastic measures like transitioning a child’s gender without express parental consent.

Download press release.