America First Legal (AFL) filed a brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to challenge a Washington State law that allows shelters to take in children with gender dysphoria and provide them with gender transition services without parental consent or knowledge. This legal action continues AFL's opposition to Senate Bill 5599, signed into law by the Washington Legislature last year.
In August 2023, AFL, Schaerr | Jaffe LLP, and local counsel initiated a lawsuit against Governor Jay Inslee, Attorney General Robert Ferguson, and Secretary of the Washington Department of Children, Youth, and Families Ross Hunter on behalf of Washington parents and parental rights organizations. The plaintiffs aim to halt the enforcement of SB 5599.
The statute permits the state to refer minors for "behavioral health treatment" without informing their parents about these services. According to AFL, this could lead to minors receiving chemical sterilization drugs or undergoing genital mutilation without parental consent or knowledge.
AFL argues that this law incentivizes minors who disagree with their parents on "gender-affirming care" to run away to shelters or host homes. They contend it undermines parents' fundamental rights under the U.S. Constitution to direct their children's care and upbringing.
However, a District Court ruled that the plaintiffs could not sue because their children had not yet been directly affected by the new laws. The court dismissed other harms asserted by parents as "speculation." Now before the Ninth Circuit, AFL and Schaerr Jaffe argue that parents should not have to wait until their children are permanently harmed to challenge these laws.
Gene Hamilton, Executive Director of America First Legal, stated: "We are committed to fighting for parental rights and will gladly stand in the gap to defend the rights of families across the country who are being oppressed by activists obsessed with using state power to advance a radical agenda. SB 5599 is part of a pernicious plan to substitute the judgment of the State for that of a child’s parents, and we are proud to continue to fight for our clients in this matter."