A Christian couple in Indiana who lost custody of their son after they refused to abide by his gender identity and preferred pronouns has petitioned SCOTUS to hear their case.
In 2019, Jeremy and Mary Cox of Anderson, Indiana, about 40 miles northeast of Indianapolis, learned that their son, identified only as A.C., had changed his name and begun identifying as a girl. As A.C. was just a young teen and gender ideology conflicted with their Catholic faith, the couple refused to abide by the boy's new name or female identity.
Instead, the parents placed A.C. in therapy to address his gender dysphoria as well as an apparent eating disorder. Meanwhile, they continued to treat him as the biological male he is.
Despite those reasonable parental decisions, the Indiana Department of Child Services removed A.C. from the Coxes' custody and placed him in a "transition-affirming home" two years later, when A.C. was 16. At that point, the Coxes were able to see A.C. only "a few hours once a week" and were prohibited from discussing with him their religiously based views on gender and human sexuality, claimed a statement from Becket, a legal organization that promotes religious freedom and is representing the couple.
