Pence visits Minnesota, says parents' rights are being 'trampled'

Former Vice President Mike Pence crusaded against school policies supporting transgender students during a Minnesota stop Wednesday, calling for parents to have more say over their children's education.

"We gather here today because there's a fight underway. There's a fight over the destiny of our children and the survival of parental rights," Pence told a crowd of about 70 supporters at the Minneapolis Club.

The Republican's appearance at the downtown event comes as GOP presidential contenders are starting to enter the 2024 race. Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley announced this week that she is running, as is former President Donald Trump.

Pence has not said whether he'll join the candidate pool, although he has been traveling the country and released a new book a few months ago. After his Minneapolis appearance, he was bound for Iowa, which remains Republicans' first stop in the presidential nominating process.

In Iowa he rallied with parents and local community members in Cedar Rapids, where a conservative group has sued the Linn-Mar Community School District over a policy that allows students to limit a parent or guardian's role in the gender support they receive at school.

The district's policy states it will support transgender students, gender-nonconforming students and those questioning their gender. Students in seventh grade or older have priority over their parents when it comes to control over their gender support plan. The district does not reveal a student's transgender status to others, including parents, unless the student has authorized the release of that information or it is legally required.

The policy also says "every student has the right to be addressed by a name and pronoun that corresponds to their gender identity." Staff or students are in violation of school board policies if they intentionally or persistently refuse to respect a student's gender identity.

The group Parents Defending Education is trying to bar enforcement of the policies. Their lawsuit contends the district is violating parents' constitutional rights to make decisions in the upbringing of their children and infringing on people's First Amendment rights by requiring them to use a student's preferred pronouns.

"Across the country, parents' rights are being trampled by a politically correct nanny state," Pence said Wednesday, adding, "We are going to take the fight for parents' rights all the way to the Supreme Court."

During his roughly 20-minute speech, Pence also cheered the end of Roe v. Wade, called critical race theory "state-sanctioned racism" and stressed the need for two-parent families. A handful of Republican state legislators were among the attendees.

Meanwhile, the DFL-controlled Legislature is considering a bill to make Minnesota a "trans refuge" state, protecting individuals and families who visit Minnesota for medical care that affirms a patient's gender identity, known as gender-affirming care, as well as their medical providers.

If neighboring states become less inclusive, then Minnesota needs to do more, said DFL Rep. Leigh Finke, Minnesota's first transgender legislator. She opposes the lawsuit against the Iowa school district and said preventing people from using someone's preferred pronouns is "incredibly dehumanizing and difficult."

"By making our schools less inclusive, by making our schools more of a closeted space that denies our existence, we're just making sure we set up young people to fail," Finke said. "We need to be supporting kids, we need to be including and recognizing them and believing them, and responsibly taking care of them in our schools."

Pence's visit came as he says he'll fight a subpoena by the special counsel overseeing Trump investigations to make him testify before a grand jury. During his stop in Cedar Rapids later Wednesday, he said he would pursue it to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.

Ahead of the former vice president's Minnesota stop, state DFL Party Chairman Ken Martin dismissed the possibility of a Pence presidency.

"Vice President Pence will never be anything more than Donald Trump's most embarrassing lapdog," Martin said in a statement. "If Pence thinks his record of failure in the White House, his attacks on LGBTQ Americans, and his repeated efforts to cut Social Security and Medicare will help him win the presidency, he's in for a very long two years."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.