California plants new flag on transgender student protections

California has thrown down a new gauntlet in the fight over transgender students.  

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) this week signed a law saying teachers could not be required to tell parents about a student’s name or pronoun changes in most circumstances, leading to at least one district filing a lawsuit and tech billionaire Elon Musk announcing he would pull his businesses out of the state.  

While LGBTQ advocates say the law will prevent forced outings and protect young people, opponents argue California is withholding vital information from parents about their children. 

The move is the first of its kind and came after multiple schools in the state attempted to implement policies requiring the opposite. 

“What this bill would do is three things. It would protect LGBTQ youth against forced outing policies, provide resources for parents and families of LGBTQ students, support them as they have conversations on their own terms and create critical safeguards to prevent retaliation against teachers and schools that look to support and foster a safe and supportive school environment for all students,” said Tony Hoang, executive director of Equality California.  

The Trevor Project found in 2022 that around 16 percent of LGBTQ youth said they ran away from home and 55 percent said they left their house due to mistreatment or fear of mistreatment over their LGBTQ identity.

The law only allows educators to notify parents of gender identity changes if a student requests a change in their official record with the school.  

Lawmakers in California pushed for the action after multiple schools in the state wanted to implement a policy requiring a teacher to tell a parent any time a student requested to go by a different name of pronoun.  

"Governor Newsom’s signing of AB 1955 is a direct assault 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 places boys and girls in potential jeopardy.” 

The new law has already been hit with a lawsuit from Chino Valley Unified School District, one of the districts that the state previously sued for its policies around transgender students. The lawsuit says California is violating parents’ constitutional right to dictate their children’s upbringing. 

“School officials do not have the right to keep secrets from parents, but parents do have a constitutional right to know what their minor children are doing at school,” said Emily Rae, a lawyer representing the district. 

Republicans have keyed in on parental rights messaging in their education platform, aiming to pass national legislation on the issue if they reclaim 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 counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). “So that's a problem that runs headlong into the Constitution there and parents' fundamental rights under the Constitution, and it also goes contrary to the scientific evidence that shows that parental involvement is essential to getting kids quality health care.” 

Musk, the founder of SpaceX, said he would be moving its headquarters to Texas from California, adding the goal of the "diabolical law is to break the parent-child relationship and put the state in charge of your children."

At least six states have laws on the books that require teachers to inform parents if a student says they are transgender.  

But defenders of the new California law say it will help keep children safe and does not stop parents from discussing their child’s identity, merely takes teachers out of the equation. 

“This is a deeply unserious lawsuit, seemingly designed to stoke the dumpster fire formerly known as Twitter rather than surface legitimate legal claims. AB 1955 preserves the child-parent relationship, California law ensures minors can’t legally change their name or gender without parental consent, and parents continue to have guaranteed and full access to their student’s educational records consistent with federal law. We’re confident the state will swiftly prevail in this case,” said Izzy Gardon, spokesperson for the governor.   

Hoang said a state senator in New York will be introducing a similar bill to California's “because at the end of the day we want to remove teachers from this equation and allow parents and children to have their own timeline and on their own terms how to have these conversations."

“Because we want to build trust, not remove trust away from that relationship by having teachers be cops in the schools policing a child sexual orientation and gender identity,” he added. 

California’s law comes on the heels of the Biden administration changing the definition of discrimination in Title IX to include sexual orientation and gender identity, angering Republicans as it could force schools to allow transgender students into the bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity.  

Multiple other states have ongoing lawsuits over policies that critics say violate the right of parents to know what’s going on with their children in schools.  

“This isn't a new issue. I mean, we at ADF have multiple cases around the country, coast to coast and everywhere in between, dealing with issues of schools cutting parents out of important decisions about their kids,” Wagner said. “We represent parents in Western Michigan who have sued their school district because their school district deceived them about the fact that it had been treating their daughter as a boy without their knowledge or consent.” 

“This may be the first law like this, but this isn't the first time we've seen these issues, and we've been tracking them nationwide and looking to support parents who are trying to get the help they want without interference from the school districts around the country, and we're going to continue to do that,” he added.