The Supreme Court declined to review a case where Indiana removed a child from parents who, due to their religious beliefs, refused to recognize the child’s female gender identity.
This decision came despite the court recognizing the parents as fit, emphasizing the state’s preference for affirming the child’s gender identity over the parents’ religious beliefs.
The ruling questions the constitutionality of two issues: (1) a restraint that prohibits a religious parent from discussing sex and gender with their child, while mandating speech from an opposing viewpoint, potentially violating First Amendment rights to free speech and free exercise; and (2) whether a court’s decision to remove a child from the custody of fit parents, without specific findings of neglect or abuse, infringes on the parents’ 14th Amendment right to care for and have custody of their child.
