Do No Harm Submits Amicus Brief in ‘Secret Transition’ Lawsuit Against School District

This week, Do No Harm filed an amicus brief in support of Jennifer Vitsaxaki’s lawsuit against her daughter’s school district for “secretly transitioning” her daughter without Vitsaxaki’s consent.

The case, Vitsaxaki v. Skaneateles Central School District, concerns Vitsaxaki’s fundamental parental rights under the Constitution.

Employees at Vitsaxaki’s daughter’s school, acting under Skaneateles Central School District official policy, had been secretly referring to her 12-year-old daughter as a boy, such as through the use of a masculine name. 

This so-called “social transition” was done without Vitsaxaki’s knowledge or consent; employees allegedly concealed this behavior from Vitsaxaki and continued doing it without her consent.

Vitsaxaki sued the school district, arguing that the school district’s policy violated her parental rights under the Fourteenth Amendment.

The district court granted the school district’s motion to dismiss the case, and Vitsaxaki appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Do No Harm’s amicus brief urges the Second Circuit to reverse the district court’s decision, arguing that because Vitsaxaki alleged a violation of her fundamental constitutional rights that are “deeply rooted in our history and tradition,” the “strict scrutiny” standard should apply. This means that the school district’s policy must further a compelling state interest in order to be permissible. 

Moreover, social transition invariably increases the risk of medical harm.

The natural conclusion of affirming a child’s self-professed “gender” is to place children onto the transgender medicalization pathway, in which they undergo invasive medical interventions to alter their body in accordance with their self-identified “gender.”

Protecting children from their parents thoughtlessly and automatically affirming their gender dysphoria is an important first step to prevent further harmful medicalization.

Read the full amicus brief here.