II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3037 

To require elementary schools and secondary schools that receive Federal 

funds to obtain parental consent before facilitating a child’s gender 

transition in any form, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 21, 2021 

Mr. COTTON introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 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 form, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Empower Parents to 

5 Protect Their Kids Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Some school districts are violating parental 

2 and familial rights by encouraging or instructing 

3 staff to deceive or withhold information from parents 

4 if their child is seeking to ‘‘transition’’ genders. 

5 Without parental knowledge or consent, schools are 

6 facilitating ‘‘social gender transitions’’ by changing 

7 the names and pronouns of children in school, or 

8 even allowing children to change which sex-seg9 regated facilities they use, such as dormitories for 

10 overnight field trips. 

11 (2) Powerful teachers unions and activist orga12 nizations are pressuring more schools to adopt poli13 cies to enable children, of any age, to change their 

14 gender identity at school without parental notice or 

15 consent. 

16 (3) Contrary to the unfounded assertions of ac17 tivists, ‘‘socially transitioning’’ a child is not a neu18 tral, uncontroversial decision, but an experimental 

19 intervention that has immediate effects on a child’s 

20 psychology and a high likelihood of changing the life 

21 path of a child. A ‘‘social gender transition’’ may 

22 make it more difficult for a child to reverse course 

23 later on, thereby increasing the likelihood that the 

24 child will continue on to a ‘‘medical transition’’, re25 sulting in life-changing, irreversible consequences. 


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1 (4) Any policies that attempt to circumvent pa2 rental authority are a violation of parents’ constitu3 tionally protected rights to direct the care, custody, 

4 and upbringing of their children as recognized by 

5 the Supreme Court. Further, policies that withhold 

6 information from parents or ask children about inti7 mate details of their family life violate Federal stat8 utes designed to uphold a parent’s rights and duties 

9 in education. School districts implementing such 

10 policies are misrepresenting or entirely ignoring 

11 these statutes and constitutional protections. 

12 (5) Schools should never be allowed to intrude 

13 on family life by misleading parents and confusing 

14 children. 

15 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT OF PARENTAL CONSENT. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—No Federal funds shall be made 

17 available to any elementary school or secondary school un18 less the elementary school or secondary school, with re19 spect to students enrolled at the school who have not yet 

20 reached 18 years of age, complies with each of the fol21 lowing requirements: 

22 (1) School employees do not proceed with any 

23 accommodation intended to affirm a student’s pur24 ported gender identity, where the student’s pur25 ported gender identity is incongruous with biological 


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1 sex, or any action to facilitate a gender transition, 

2 including referral or recommendation to any third3 party medical provider, unless the employees have 

4 received express parental consent to do so. 

5 (2) School employees do not facilitate, encour6 age, or coerce students to withhold information from 

7 their parents regarding the student’s gender transi8 tion or the student’s purported gender identity, 

9 where the student’s purported gender identity is in10 congruous with biological sex. 

11 (3) School employees do not withhold or hide 

12 information from parents about a student’s re13 quested gender transition or a student’s purported 

14 gender identity, where the student’s purported gen15 der identity is incongruous with biological sex. 

16 (4) School employees do not pressure or coerce 

17 the parents of students, or students themselves, to 

18 proceed with any treatment or intervention to affirm 

19 the student’s purported gender identity, where that 

20 gender identity is incongruous with biological sex. 

21 (b) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec22 tion shall be construed— 

23 (1) to prevent a school employee from con24 tacting appropriate legal authorities about an immi25 nent threat to a student’s physical safety in the 


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1 event that the school employee knows or has a rea2 sonable suspicion that the student is at risk of phys3 ical abuse, as defined in section 1169 of title 18, 

4 United States Code; or 

5 (2) to deprive any parent of the right to be in6 volved in a child’s actions or discussions about gen7 der transition, without the due process of law. 

8 (c) ENSURING COMPLIANCE.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The head of each Federal 

10 agency shall require each application for Federal as11 sistance submitted by a State educational agency or 

12 local educational agency to the head of such Federal 

13 agency— 

14 (A) to describe the steps that each elemen15 tary school and secondary school served by the 

16 State educational agency or local educational 

17 agency proposes to take to ensure compliance 

18 with the requirements under this section and 

19 how these steps preserve and protect the au20 thority of the family; and 

21 (B) to ensure that— 

22 (i) a copy of the written policy that 

23 each elementary school and secondary 

24 school served by the State educational 

25 agency or local educational agency has to 


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1 ensure compliance with the requirements 

2 under this section is provided to the head 

3 of such Federal agency and to the families 

4 of enrolled students; and 

5 (ii) each such policy is clearly and 

6 publicly posted on the website of the 

7 school. 

8 (2) ESTABLISHMENT OF CRITERIA.—The head 

9 of each Federal agency may establish criteria and 

10 provide technical assistance for meeting the require11 ments of this section. 

12 (d) CIVIL ACTION FOR CERTAIN VIOLATIONS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—A qualified party may, in a 

14 civil action, obtain appropriate relief with regard to 

15 a designated violation. 

16 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES NOT RE17 QUIRED.—An action under this section may be com18 menced, and relief may be granted, without regard 

19 to whether the party commencing the action has 

20 sought or exhausted any available administrative 

21 remedy. 

22 (3) DEFENDANTS IN ACTIONS UNDER THIS

23 SECTION MAY INCLUDE GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES

24 AS WELL AS OTHERS.—An action under this section 

25 may be brought against any elementary school or 


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1 secondary school receiving Federal financial assist2 ance or any governmental entity assisting an elemen3 tary school or secondary school. 

4 (4) NATURE OF RELIEF.—In an action under 

5 this section, the court shall grant— 

6 (A) all appropriate relief, including injunc7 tive relief and declaratory relief; and 

8 (B) to a prevailing plaintiff, reasonable at9 torneys’ fees and litigation costs. 

10 (5) ATTORNEYS FEES FOR DEFENDANT.—If a 

11 defendant in a civil action under this subsection pre12 vails and the court finds that the plaintiff’s suit was 

13 frivolous, the court shall award a reasonable attor14 ney’s fee in favor of the defendant against the plain15 tiff. 

16 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 (1) BIOLOGICAL SEX.—The term ‘‘biological 

18 sex’’ means the biological indication of male and fe19 male in the context of reproductive potential or ca20 pacity, such as sex chromosomes, naturally occurring 

21 sex hormones, gonads, and nonambiguous internal 

22 and external genitalia present at birth, without re23 gard to a person’s psychological, chosen, or subjec24 tive experience of gender. 


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1 (2) DESIGNATED VIOLATION.—The term ‘‘des2 ignated violation’’ means an actual or threatened 

3 violation of this section. 

4 (3) ESEA.—The terms ‘‘elementary school’’ 

5 and ‘‘secondary school’’ have the meanings given the 

6 terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec7 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

8 (4) GENDER IDENTITY.—The term ‘‘gender 

9 identity’’ means a person’s self-perception of their 

10 gender or claimed gender, regardless of the person’s 

11 biological sex. 

12 (5) GENDER TRANSITION.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘gender tran14 sition’’ includes both medical transition and so15 cial transition. 

16 (B) MEDICAL TRANSITION.—The term 

17 ‘‘medical transition’’ means any medical or sur18 gical intervention undertaken to alter the body 

19 of a person in order to assert an identity incon20 gruent with biological sex or undertaken to cre21 ate or facilitate the development of physiological 

22 or anatomical characteristics that resemble a 

23 sex different from the person’s biological sex. 

24 (C) SOCIAL TRANSITION.—The term ‘‘so25 cial transition’’ means any action taken to afVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:12 Oct 26, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3037.IS S3037

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1 firm a person’s asserted gender identity that is 

2 in contradiction to the person’s biological sex, 

3 including decisions pertaining to the use of sex4 specific facilities and accommodations, partici5 pation in sex-segregated sports or activities, 

6 pronoun and name usage, boarding, sleeping 

7 and travel arrangements for field trips (includ8 ing overnight trips), and dress code guidelines. 

9 (6) GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY.—The term ‘‘gov10 ernmental entity’’ means a school district, a local 

11 educational agency, a school board, or any agency or 

12 other governmental unit or subdivision of a State re13 sponsible for education, or of such a local govern14 ment. 

15 (7) QUALIFIED PARTY.—The term ‘‘qualified 

16 party’’ means— 

17 (A) the Attorney General of the United 

18 States; or 

19 (B) any parent or legal guardian adversely 

20 affected by the designated violation. 

Æ 


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