News Release
For Immediate Release: 11.10.25
Contact: Natalie Konstans, media@firstliberty.org
Direct: 972-941-4453
California School District Dismisses the Appeal of its Preliminary Injunction Loss, Agrees to Notify Parents and Provide Opt-Outs from Gender Ideology Lessons
Fifth-grade students had been forced to teach kindergartners about the book, My Shadow is Pink, violating their religious beliefs.
San Diego, CA—The Encinitas (CA) Union School District has voluntarily dismissed its Ninth Circuit appeal, leaving in place the lower court’s decision that requires schools to provide notification and opt-outs to parents and students when promoting gender ideology that conflicts with parents’ religious beliefs. The decision follows recent Supreme Court precedent in Mahmoud v. Taylor.
Dean Broyles, President of the National Center for Law & Policy said, “The Supreme Court’s decision affirms that parents have the right to know what their children are being taught in school, and to opt out when that teaching interferes with their sincerely held religious beliefs. Our clients are vindicated now that the District appears to be aligning its policies with Supreme Court precedent, as a result of this litigation.”
“We are glad that the school district saw the writing on the wall and withdrew their appeal in light of Supreme Court precedent and the District’s preliminary injunction loss,” said Kayla Toney, Counsel for First Liberty Institute. “We’re committed to ensuring that children aren’t forced to speak a message that violates their convictions, and that parents aren’t afraid to exercise their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights by requesting opt-outs.”
In May 2024, a fifth-grade teacher at La Costa Heights Elementary School read aloud the book, My Shadow is Pink, which urges children to question their own gender identity. The book features a boy who sees his shadow as pink, which the book describes as “your inner-most you.” He then wears a dress to school, and his dad changes his beliefs and puts on a dress too. The children in this case were forced to watch a read-aloud video of the book with their kindergarten “buddy” as part of the school’s mentoring program. Then they had to ask the kindergartner what color “represents” them and draw the kindergartener’s shadow in chalk. When the parents requested notice and opt-outs from similar teaching in the future, the school district denied their requests. The parents sued in federal court, and the judge issued a preliminary injunction in May 2025, requiring the district to provide three days’ advance notice and opt-outs when gender ideology is presented in mentoring programs.
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About First Liberty Institute
First Liberty Institute is a non-profit public interest law firm and the largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious freedom for all Americans.
To arrange an interview, contact Natalie Konstans at media@firstliberty.org.
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