A Maine mother whose parental rights she says were violated by school officials is petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court after lower federal courts dismissed her case. Amber Lavigne alleges that officials at Great Salt Bay Community School in Damariscotta, Maine, secretly encouraged her then‑13‑year‑old daughter to wear a chest binder and use a different name and pronouns without her knowledge or consent.
Lavigne filed her original lawsuit in 2023, arguing that school officials trampled her constitutional right to “control and direct” her child’s upbringing. After a U.S. District Court and the First Circuit Court of Appeals upheld dismissal of the case, the Goldwater Institute filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to hear the matter and issue guidance on how schools nationwide should handle gender‑identity issues.
Goldwater attorney Adam Shelton said, “We are asking the Supreme Court to step in and make it clear that parents … have a right to know when public school officials make important decisions affecting the mental health and physical wellbeing of their children.”
