California Bans Schools from Notifying Parents about their Child’s ‘Gender Identity’
Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a bill into law that makes California the first state to prohibit schools from informing parents if their child requests to use different pronouns or identifies with a gender different from their biological sex.
According to the bill, the new policy will, “prohibit school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, and the state special schools, and a member of the governing board or body of those educational entities, from enacting or enforcing any policy, rule, or administrative regulation that requires an employee or a contractor 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 law.”
“LGBTQ+ pupils have the right to express themselves freely at school without fear, punishment, or retaliation, including that teachers or administrators might ‘out’ them without their permission. Policies that require outing pupils without their consent violate pupils’ rights to privacy and self-determination,” it added.
The new law comes in response to initiatives in the state like the one by Chino Valley Unified School District, which gained attention last year when it became the first district in California to require parental notification if a student identified as transgender. The policy faced significant backlash from state officials, leading to the California Attorney General filing a temporary restraining order to prevent its implementation.
Jacob Huebert, President of the Liberty Justice Center, which represented Chino Valley, criticized the new legislation when it was first introduced. He stated, “Parents have a right to know what their own minor children are doing at school — and school officials have no right to keep secrets from parents. That’s true now, and it will still be true if the state passes this bill. We will continue to stand with parents and the school districts that want to respect their rights — and we’ll continue to represent them free of charge, at no cost to taxpayers.”
