UPDATE: This story has been edited to provide further context to Snyder's statements.
A Republican-led resolution to end instruction about gender identity and require that parents be informed about issues around gender transition in Michigan public schools was rejected by the Michigan’s State Board of Education Tuesday.
Board member Nikki Snyder (R-Goodrich) proposed the resolution be added to the board’s monthly meeting agenda to be voted on by board members. She called on the state Department of Education to remove the Health Education Standards developed in 2025 and expand what parents have a right to be notified about by schools.
Snyder said the state's current guidelines don't match federal regulations or court rulings.
“Schools [in Michigan] don't have a legal obligation to tell parents that a student goes by a different name and pronoun than is their legal name. This same professional development flies in the face of federal constitutional parental rights,” Snyder claimed during Tuesday’s meeting.
Snyder cited executive orders from the federal government that established sex as "an immutable biological classification," not a changeable identity. However, executive orders cannot override existing state law, and sex and gender identity is a protected class under Michigan's Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA).
Board member Tom McMillin (R-Oakland Township), who also supported the resolution, cited a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a case out of California, Mirabelli v. Bonta, which found in favor of parents who argued they have a right to know things like whether their child is being called a different name or using different pronouns at school than at home.
McMillin said the Michigan Department of Education’s current Health Education Standards for students and teachers are "unconstitutional." Yet both the parents' right to review school curriculum and opt their child out of classes is already protected under state law.
State Superintendent Glenn Maleyko pointed out that Michigan does leave a lot of decisions up to local districts and families.
“In Michigan, it's local control, it's opt-outs, and it's the ability for parents to choose and local districts to choose,” Maleyko said.
Board members opposed to the resolution said parents can always opt their students out of sex education classes, as indicated by state law.
Board President Pamela Pugh (D-Saginaw) said the resolution represented something the board has already debated and would not serve students' best interest. “A lot of the discussion that has been brought up at this table politicizes our schools and spreads confusion and misinformation about policies that we've already clearly established in law,” Pugh said.
“Our responsibility is to provide safe, supportive, respectful learning environments for all children,” she continued.
Three Michigan school districts are currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice to determine whether they require “instruction on sexual orientation and gender ideology in Pre-K-12 schools.”
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story referred to the Michigan Department of Education's Health Education Standards as "sex and gender guidelines". This has been corrected.
