Empower Parents to Protect their Kids Act of 2025
Empower Parents to Protect their Kids Act of 2025 would condition federal education funding on schools following strict parental-rights requirements related to gender identity and transition. The bill asserts that schools should not take steps to affirm or assist a student’s gender-identity incongruent with their biological sex without express parental consent, and it prohibits schools from withholding information from parents about a student’s discomfort with their sex or their desire to transition. It also creates a framework for enforcement by allowing civil actions against schools or governmental education entities that violate these requirements, with remedies including injunctive relief, attorney’s fees for prevailing plaintiffs, and potentially funding for therapies to repair harm as determined by parents and medical providers. Federal agencies would must review and post school policies to ensure parental involvement and transparency. In short, the bill aims to elevate parental control over decisions connected to gender transition in K-12 settings, link compliance to federal funding, and empower parents and guardians to sue schools if they believe their rights have been violated.
Key Points
- 1Parental consent requirement for gender-transition actions
- 2- Schools may not accommodate or assist a student in adopting a gender identity incongruent with their sex, nor refer or connect students to gender-transition services, unless parents have given express consent.
- 3Information sharing with parents
- 4- Schools may not withhold or hide information from parents about a student’s discomfort with their sex, identity, or desire to transition, nor pressure students to withhold such information from parents.
- 5Prohibition on pressuring families
- 6- Schools and staff may not pressure or coerce parents or students to pursue interventions to affirm a student’s gender identity incongruent with their sex.
- 7Compliance and transparency requirements
- 8- Federal funding to schools is conditioned on describing steps to ensure compliance and preserving family authority, providing copies of written policies to federal agencies and families, and publicly posting policies on school websites.
- 9Civil action and remedies
- 10- Qualified parties may sue schools or governmental education entities for violations, with relief including injunctive/declaratory relief, attorney’s fees for prevailing plaintiffs, and payment for treatments or therapy to repair harm from pursuing a gender-transition path as determined by the parent and medical providers; frivolous suits may result in defendant’s attorney-fee recovery.