On November 11, 2017, a group of parents challenged their local school district’s policy of permitting transgender students to use the facilities consistent with the student’s gender identity. The school district moved to dismiss the complaint. On July 24, 2018, the District Court dismissed the parents’ claims, finding that the district’s transgender-inclusive policies do not violate the rights of non-transgender students. The parents appealed.

On March 11, 2019, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, along with Cooley LLP and the Transgender Law Center, filed an amicus brief in support of the school district in the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Representing a coalition of organizations that work with families raising transgender youth, the brief tells the stories of families raising transgender children in states within the Ninth Circuit (Arizona, Alaska, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Montana, Oregon, Washington) and around the country. Through their triumphs and challenges, these families help humanize the experiences of transgender youth and underscoring the importance of transgender children being able to go to school in an environment that is safe, welcoming, and does not treat them differently because of who they are.

On February 12, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the dismissal of the complaint.