Sponsors
The bill increases parental enforcement and clarifies permissible school actions on gender‑related counseling but does so by restricting school support and confidentiality for transgender and questioning students, creating significant safety, legal, and financial risks for vulnerable youth and school districts.
Parents (especially those concerned about gender-related counseling) can sue schools to stop staff from providing gender‑related counseling to their minor children, giving parents a direct enforcement tool.
Clarifies schools' obligations and restricts staff actions regarding gender-identity counseling, reducing ambiguity for districts and educators about what counseling is permissible at school.
Students under 18 (particularly transgender and questioning youth) would be denied access to gender‑identity counseling and to confidential help from staff, likely worsening mental‑health outcomes and increasing safety risks for youth who fear family rejection or abuse if outed.
Teachers, school counselors, and contractors face legal liability and job risk for providing support to transgender students, creating a chilling effect that could reduce school-based mental‑health services and supportive interventions.
Conditioning of federal ESEA funds on compliance could penalize districts that serve vulnerable students and expose schools to the risk of losing federal education funding if found noncompliant.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Conditions federal K–12 funds on banning school staff/contractors from providing gender-identity counseling or helping minors with social transition plans and bars advising students to hide this from parents, with parental injunctive suits allowed.
Introduced March 18, 2026 by Anna Luna · Last progress March 18, 2026
Conditions federal K–12 education funding on public schools banning employees and contractors from providing counseling, therapy, or guidance related to a minor student's gender identity, including help with gender support or social transition plans, and from advising students to hide their gender identity or transition from parents. Gives parents a private right to sue in federal district court to seek injunctive relief for violations and adds the new requirement into the Elementary and Secondary Education Act's provisions on conditions of assistance.