California has thrown a new challenge in the fight for transgender students.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) this week signed a law saying teachers could not be forced to tell parents about a student’s name or pronoun changes under most circumstances, prompting at least one district to file a lawsuit and tech billionaire Elon Musk announcing he would pull his businesses out of state.
While LGBTQ advocates say the law will prevent forced departures and protect young people, opponents argue that California is withholding vital information from parents about their children.
The change is the first of its kind and comes after several schools in the state attempted to implement policies that required otherwise.
“What this bill would do is three things. It would protect LGBTQ youth from forced exit policies, provide resources for parents and families of LGBTQ students, support them as they speak on their own terms, and create critical safeguards to prevent retaliation against teachers and schools who seek to support and promote a safe and secure environment. favorable school environment for all students,” said Tony Hoang, executive director of Equality California.
The Trevor Project found in 2022 that about 16 percent of LGBTQ youth said they ran away from home and 55 percent said they left home due to mistreatment or fear of mistreatment due to their LGBTQ identity.
The law only allows educators to notify parents of gender identity changes if a student requests a change to their official record with the school.
California lawmakers pushed for the action after several schools in the state wanted to implement a policy that required a teacher to inform parents whenever a student requested a different pronoun name.
“Governor Newsom’s signing of AB 1955 is a direct attack on the safety of children and the rights of their parents,” said Jonathan Keller, president of the California Family Council. “By allowing schools to withhold vital information from mothers and fathers, this bill undermines their fundamental role and puts boys and girls in potential danger.”
The new law has already been the subject of a lawsuit from the Chino Valley Unified School District, one of the districts the state has previously sued over its policies toward transgender students. The lawsuit says California is violating parents’ constitutional right to dictate their children’s education.
“School officials do not have the right to keep secrets from parents, but parents have a constitutional right to know what their minor children are doing at school,” said Emily Rae, an attorney representing the district.
Republicans have focused on messaging about parental rights in their education platform, aiming to pass national legislation on the issue if they regain the presidency.
“The Constitution guarantees parents the fundamental right to direct the upbringing, education and health care of their children. This law, by preventing schools from passing policies that keep parents informed, interferes with that right,” said Vincent Wagner, senior advisor at Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). “So this is an issue that goes against the Constitution and the fundamental rights of parents under the Constitution, and it also goes against the scientific evidence that shows that parental involvement is essential to getting quality health care for children .”
Musk, the founder of SpaceX, said he would move his headquarters from California to Texas, adding that the goal of the “diabolical law is to break the father-son relationship and put the state in charge of its children.”
At least six states have laws on the books that require teachers to inform parents if a student says they are transgender.
But supporters of California’s new law say it will help keep children safe and won’t stop parents from discussing their children’s identities, it will just take teachers out of the equation.
“This is a deeply unserious lawsuit, seemingly designed to fan the dumpster fire formerly known as Twitter, rather than surface legitimate legal claims. AB 1955 preserves the parent-child relationship, California law guarantees that minors cannot legally change their name or gender without parental consent, and parents continue to have guaranteed and full access to their students’ educational records, according to federal law. We are confident that the state will quickly prevail in this case,” said Izzy Gardon, the governor’s spokeswoman.
Hoang said a state senator in New York will introduce a bill similar to California’s “because ultimately we want to remove teachers from this equation and allow parents and children to have their own schedule and on their own terms how to have these conversations.” “
“Because we want to build trust, not remove trust from that relationship, by making teachers police officers in schools, policing a child’s sexual orientation and gender identity,” he added.
The California law comes shortly after the Biden administration changed the definition of discrimination in Title IX to include sexual orientation and gender identity, angering Republicans because it could force schools to allow transgender students into bathrooms and locker rooms. that correspond to their gender identity.
Several other states have ongoing lawsuits over policies that critics say violate parents’ right to know what is happening to their children in schools.
“This is not a new problem. I mean, we at ADF have multiple cases across the country, from coast to coast and everywhere in between, dealing with issues of schools excluding parents from important decisions about their children,” Wagner said. “We represent parents in West Michigan who sued their school district because the school district misled them about treating their daughter like a boy without their knowledge or consent.”
“This may be the first law like this, but it is not the first time we have seen these issues, and we have been monitoring them across the country and trying to support parents who are trying to get the help they want without interference from local school districts. across the country and we will continue to do so”, he added.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
