The California State Senate has passed a bill that would prohibit school staff from informing parents of child gender “transitions.” This move comes amid a nationwide debate over trans-identified children and parental rights.
AB 1955, also known as the “Support Academic Futures and Educators for Today’s Youth Act,” is supposedly aimed at preventing the “forced outing” of a child to their parents.
The bill, if passed, would bar school employees and contractors from disclosing a student’s sexual orientation or gender identity to anyone without the student’s consent unless it is required by law. Schools would not be allowed to enforce any policy mandating this information to be disclosed.
An employee or a contractor of a school district, county office of education, charter school, or state special school for the blind or the deaf shall not be required to disclose any information related to a pupil’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to any other person without the pupil’s consent unless otherwise required by state or federal law.
The bill further states that “[p]olicies that forcibly ‘out’ pupils without their consent remove opportunities for LGBTQ+ young people and their families to build trust and have these conversations when they are ready.”
The legislation would also mandate periodic updates of resources to support parents, guardians, and families of LGBTQ+ students. The bill claims that “[a]ffirming school environments significantly reduce the odds of transgender youth attempting suicide, according to The Trevor Project Research Brief: LGBTQ & Gender-Affirming Spaces.”
School employees would also be protected from punishment or retaliation for refusing to inform parents about their child’s issues with gender. It states that schools “shall not in any manner retaliate or take adverse action against any employee, including by placing the employee on administrative leave, on the basis that the employee supported a pupil in the exercise of rights set forth in this chapter” because “No school employee should suffer an adverse employment action because the employee supported a pupil or pupils in exercising their legal rights to privacy, nondiscrimination, state-aligned instructional materials, and equal educational opportunity.”
This bill is in line with other actions California’s government has taken to help schools conceal important information from parents. Last year, the state sued the Chino Hills School District for requiring school staff to notify parents if their child is showing signs of gender dysphoria.
Today, Bonta doubled down on their promises to make school districts pay for their refusal to accept the state’s agenda for children.
California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit Monday against the Chino school district, ordering an end to a policy that requires notifying parents if their children change their gender identity, alleging it is discriminatory and violates civil rights and privacy laws.
The “parental notification” policy, which has been proposed by a handful of conservative-leaning districts in California, puts transgender and gender-nonconforming students in “danger of imminent, irreparable harm” by potentially forcibly “outing” them at home before they’re ready, according to the lawsuit.
“They are in real fear that the district’s policy will force them to make a choice: either ‘walk back’ their constitutionally and statutorily protected rights to gender identity and gender expression, or face the risk of emotional, physical and psychological harm from non-affirming or unaccepting parents or guardians,” states the lawsuit, which asks the San Bernardino County Superior Court to immediately ban the practice.
This bill would make the school environment even worse for California parents who do not want their parental rights violated. This issue is becoming increasingly polarizing, with various states passing laws opposing or supporting the trans agenda among children. The Golden State has clearly shown which side of this issue they are on.