,,ii #aahth ,,congress #ast ,session ,s4 #agji ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,may #ah1 #bjbc ,mr4 ,cotton 7for himself1 ,mrs4 ,hyde-,smith1 ,mr4 ,braun1 and ,mr4 ,scott of ,florida7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,health1 ,education1 ,labor1 and ,pensions ,a ,,bill ,to require elementary schools and secondary schools that receive ,federal funds to obtain parental consent before facilitating a child's gender transition in any form1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,empower ,parents to ,protect ,their ,kids ,act of #bjbc4 #b4 ,findings ,congress finds the following3 7#a7 ,some school districts are violating parental and familial rights by encouraging or instructing staff to deceive or withhold information from parents if their child is seeking to transition genders4 ,without parental knowledge or consent1 schools are facilitating social gender transitions by changing the names and pronouns of children in school1 or even allowing children to change which sex-segregated facilities they use1 such as dormitories for overnight field trips4 7#b7 ,powerful teachers unions and activist organizations are pressuring more schools to adopt policies to enable children1 of any age1 to change their gender identity at school without parental notice or consent4 7#c7 ,contrary to the unfounded assertions of activists1 socially transitioning a child is not a neutral1 uncontroversial decision1 but an experimental intervention that has immediate effects on a child's psychology and a high likelihood of changing the life path of a child4 ,a social gender transition may make it more difficult for a child to reverse course later on1 thereby increasing the likelihood that the child will continue on to a medical transition1 resulting in life-changing1 irreversible consequences4 7#d7 ,any policies that attempt to circumvent parental authority are a violation of parents' constitutionally protected rights to direct the care1 custody1 and upbringing of their children as recognized by the ,supreme ,court4 ,further1 policies that withhold information from parents or ask children about intimate details of their family life violate ,federal statutes designed to uphold a parent's rights and duties in education4 ,school districts implementing such policies are misrepresenting or entirely ignoring these statutes and constitutional protections4 7#e7 ,schools should never be allowed to intrude on family life by misleading parents and confusing children4 #c4 ,requirement of parental consent 7a7 ,in general ,no ,federal funds shall be made available to any elementary school or secondary school unless the elementary school or secondary school1 with respect to students enrolled at the school who have not yet reached #ah years of age1 complies with each of the following requirements3 7#a7 ,school employees do not proceed with any accommodation intended to affirm a student's purported gender identity1 where the student's purported gender identity is incongruous with biological sex1 or any action to facilitate a gender transition1 including referral or recommendation to any third-party medical provider1 unless the employees have received express parental consent to do so4 7#b7 ,school employees do not facilitate1 encourage1 or coerce students to withhold information from their parents regarding the student's gender transition or the student's purported gender identity1 where the student's purported gender identity is incongruous with biological sex4 7#c7 ,school employees do not withhold or hide information from parents about a student's requested gender transition or a student's purported gender identity1 where the student's purported gender identity is incongruous with biological sex4 7#d7 ,school employees do not pressure or coerce the parents of students1 or students themselves1 to proceed with any treatment or intervention to affirm the student's purported gender identity1 where that gender identity is incongruous with biological sex4 7b7 ,rules of construction ,nothing in this section shall be construed-- 7#a7 to prevent a school employee from contacting appropriate legal authorities about an imminent threat to a student's physical safety in the event that the school employee knows or has a reasonable suspicion that the student is at risk of physical abuse1 as defined in section #aafi of title #ah1 ,united ,states ,code2 or 7#b7 to deprive any parent of the right to be involved in a child's actions or discussions about gender transition1 without the due process of law4 7c7 ,ensuring compliance 7#a7 ,in general ,the head of each ,federal agency shall require each application for ,federal assistance submitted by a ,state educational agency or local educational agency to the head of such ,federal agency-- 7,a7 to describe the steps that each elementary school and secondary school served by the ,state educational agency or local educational agency proposes to take to ensure compliance with the requirements under this section and how these steps preserve and protect the authority of the family2 and 7,b7 to ensure that-- 7i7 a copy of the written policy that each elementary school and secondary school served by the ,state educational agency or local educational agency has to ensure compliance with the requirements under this section is provided to the head of such ,federal agency and to the families of enrolled students2 and 7ii7 each such policy is clearly and publicly posted on the website of the school4 7#b7 ,establishment of criteria ,the head of each ,federal agency may establish criteria and provide technical assistance for meeting the requirements of this section4 7d7 ,civil action for certain violations 7#a7 ,in general ,a qualified party may1 in a civil action1 obtain appropriate relief with regard to a designated violation4 7#b7 ,administrative remedies not required ,an action under this section may be commenced1 and relief may be granted1 without regard to whether the party commencing the action has sought or exhausted any available administrative remedy4 7#c7 ,defendants in actions under this section may include governmental entities as well as others ,an action under this section may be brought against any elementary school or secondary school receiving ,federal financial assistance or any governmental entity assisting an elementary school or secondary school4 7#d7 ,nature of relief ,in an action under this section1 the court shall grant-- 7,a7 all appropriate relief1 including injunctive relief and declaratory relief2 and 7,b7 to a prevailing plaintiff1 reasonable attorneys' fees and litigation costs4 7#e7 ,attorneys fees for defendant ,if a defendant in a civil action under this subsection prevails and the court finds that the plaintiff's suit was frivolous1 the court shall award a reasonable attorney's fee in favor of the defendant against the plaintiff4 7e7 ,definitions ,in this section3 7#a7 ,biological sex ,the term biological sex means the biological indication of male and female in the context of reproductive potential or capacity1 such as sex chromosomes1 naturally occurring sex hormones1 gonads1 and nonambiguous internal and external genitalia present at birth1 without regard to a person's psychological1 chosen1 or subjective experience of gender4 7#b7 ,designated violation ,the term designated violation means an actual or threatened violation of this section4 7#c7 ,,esea ,the terms elementary school and secondary school have the meanings given the terms in section #haja of the ,elementary and ,secondary ,education ,act of #aife 7#bj ,u4,s4,c4 #ghja74 7#d7 ,gender identity ,the term gender identity means a person's self-perception of their gender or claimed gender1 regardless of the person's biological sex4 7#e7 ,gender transition 7,a7 ,in general ,the term gender transition includes both medical transition and social transition4 7,b7 ,medical transition ,the term medical transition means any medical or surgical intervention undertaken to alter the body of a person in order to assert an identity incongruent with biological sex or undertaken to create or facilitate the development of physiological or anatomical characteristics that resemble a sex different from the person's biological sex4 7,c7 ,social transition ,the term social transition means any action taken to affirm a person's asserted gender identity that is in contradiction to the person's biological sex1 including decisions pertaining to the use of sex-specific facilities and accommodations1 participation in sex-segregated sports or activities1 pronoun and name usage1 boarding1 sleeping and travel arrangements for field trips 7including overnight trips71 and dress code guidelines4 7#f7 ,governmental entity ,the term governmental entity means a school district1 a local educational agency1 a school board1 or any agency or other governmental unit or subdivision of a ,state responsible for education1 or of such a local government4 7#g7 ,qualified party ,the term qualified party means-- 7,a7 the ,attorney ,general of the ,united ,states2 or 7,b7 any parent or legal guardian adversely affected by the designated violation4