Amicus Brief: Regino v. Blake

Across the country, public-school officials are socially transitioning students—adopting new names and pronouns to reflect alternate gender identities—without informing their parents. In this case, the Chico Unified School District implemented a policy under which school staff will not inform parents if a child socially transitions at school unless the student affirmatively authorizes disclosure.

Chico parent Aurora Regino challenged the policy after district officials socially transitioned her 11-year-old daughter at school for several months without notifying her. Regino sued, alleging violations of her constitutionally protected parental rights. The district court denied a preliminary injunction and dismissed her complaint.

In 2023, the Manhattan Institute filed an amicus brief in support of Regino during her first appeal. The Ninth Circuit vacated the dismissal and held that the district court had applied the wrong legal standards to Regino’s constitutional claims. On remand, the district court reconsidered the case under the Ninth Circuit’s instructions but again dismissed Regino’s complaint.

The case is now back before the Ninth Circuit, where the Manhattan Institute—joined by Defending Education and MI senior fellow Leor Sapir—has again filed an amicus brief supporting Regino. Updating arguments presented in the earlier appeal, the brief explains that social transition is not a neutral act but an active psychological intervention.

Recent evidence reviews, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ final review of treatments for pediatric gender dysphoria—co-authored by Dr. Sapir—emphasize that the evidence supporting pediatric medical transition remains highly uncertain while the evidence of potential harms is less uncertain.

Because social transition can influence whether childhood gender distress persists and may place children on a pathway toward unnecessary medical treatment, the brief argues that decisions about it fall squarely within parents’ constitutionally protected right to direct their children’s upbringing, education, and healthcare.

Ilya Shapiro is a senior fellow and director of Constitutional Studies at the Manhattan Institute. Follow him on Twitter here.

Leor Sapir is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

Trevor Burrus is a legal policy fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

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