Preferred pronoun policy upheld

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A Greek Orthodox mother’s free exercise and due process lawsuit against an upstate New York school district was dismissed in federal court. She says the school allowed her seventh-grade daughter to use her chosen name and pronouns without the mother’s knowledge or consent. The court agrees the policy plausibly burdens the free exercise of her religion, but that it is also rationally related to the state’s interest in protecting the physical and emotional well-being of its youth, so her claims fail.