Baptist groups supporting ‘God-given rights of parents’

 By Tom Strode - Posted at Baptist Press:

CHICAGO (BP)—A Southern Baptist Convention entity and a Baptist state convention have joined other organizations in defending before a federal appeals court the rights of Wisconsin parents challenging a school system’s transgender policy.

The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) and the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention (MWBC) signed onto a friend-of-the-court brief filed Monday (May 8) that urged the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago to rule parents have legal standing to contest the guidance of the Eau Claire (Wis.) Area School District. The policy permits staff to conceal from parents their child is identifying at school as a gender different than his or her biological sex.

The brief marks the third time in 14 months the ERLC has joined with a Baptist state convention and other organizations to support parents challenging a school’s guidelines regarding students who identify as transgender. Among the commission’s allies on those friend-of-the-court briefs were the Baptist Convention of Iowa (BCI) in one case and the MWBC in the other.

“There is no room for the state to come between a parent and a child in matters related to education,” said Hannah Daniel, the ERLC’s policy manager. “This is especially so when it comes to issues of sexuality and gender. Yet, in recent years, we have learned about some school districts seeking to conceal information from parents related to their children.“

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