Morrisey Signs Bill: Teachers Must Reveal Students' Gender Identity to Parents
The governor of West Virginia, Patrick Morrisey, has completed his actions on the bills that were passed during the 2025 legislative session.
One of the approved bills includes Senate Bill 154, which mandates that educators inform parents about their child’s gender identity if the student identifies with a gender differing from what is recorded on their birth certificate.
"It bars public school teachers and county board members who are assigned to a specific school from intentionally providing inaccurate or deceptive details to a student’s parents or guardians about the child's gender identity or plans to transition to a gender differing from their birth-assigned sex," Delegate Elias Coop-Gonzalez stated.
It also imposes limitations on discussing sexual orientation and gender identity in educational settings.
"Basically, this forces educators to disclose information about their transgender students' gender identity to their parents or legal guardians without obtaining the students’ consent," stated Jack Jarvis, the Communication Director for Fairness West Virginia.
Fairness West Virginia has strongly opposed this bill. They argued that it poses a serious threat to the lives of transgender students who come from non-supportive households.
"I think all of our goals should be to support these students however they identify, and make sure that they can come to school, learn and grow in a way that's safe and supportive," Jarvis said. "If the student knows that the teacher's going to have to report it to the administrator and then the parents, well, if I’m a student, I might just not say anything at all. I might not tell that teacher when I’m being bullied or harassed in school. I might just quietly suffer."
In this current legislative session, certain lawmakers argued that this bill seeks a solution for an issue that doesn't really exist since topics related to sexual orientation and gender identity aren’t part of school curriculums.
This is one of several laws signed this legislative session regarding gender identity and sexuality. The others include the Riley Gaines act, which legally defines the difference between a man and a woman, which the governor said was the state's attempt to protect women in West Virginia.
It's logical that there are two genders. It’s logical that boys shouldn’t compete with girls in athletics," Morrissey stated. "It's logical that areas designated for females such as restrooms, changing rooms, safe houses for victims of domestic abuse, and facilities providing support for sexual assault survivors should remain exclusive to women.
When it comes to Senate Bill 154, Jarvis said when students are afraid to share their identity with their teachers, building trust will be harder.
This bill will take effect on July 11, 2025. West Virginia will joins 21 other states that have taken legislative action on this topic.
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