Organization fighting radical gender ideology sues school for withholding public records
District undermining 'parents' right to access information'
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—The nonprofit that has been exposing radical gender ideology in California filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the public school district in Burbank, California, for failing to comply with state law by providing requested documents.
Burbank Unified School District, in Los Angeles County, hasn’t responded to the Center for American Liberty’s repeated records requests, the organization says. This silence violates the California Public Records Act, which requires the state government to disclose records to the public upon request, notes the nonprofit dedicated to protecting free speech and civil liberties.
“The Center for American Liberty is actively exposing extreme plans and policies in California school districts through public records requests,” Harmeet K. Dhillon, the center’s CEO and founder, said in a written statement shared with The Daily Signal. “The Burbank Unified School District’s inadequate response to our lawful CPRA requests undermines parents’ right to access information about what’s happening behind closed doors at their children’s schools.”
The Center for American Liberty requested materials May 23 from the Burbank school district related to compliance with state education laws. Those measures include legislation, recently signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, allowing schools to hide gender identity from parents; so-called Gender Support Plans, which school districts use to help children socially “transition” to another gender; and partnerships with organizations that seek to indoctrinate kids on LGTBQ issues, including The Trevor Project and Gender Spectrum.
The Burbank district, which has 14,331 students enrolled in 21 schools, didn’t provide a “complete or satisfactory” disclosure of requested records, although state law requires a timely response, the center’s lawsuit contends.
The Center for American Liberty determined that the Burbank school district didn’t search for and disclose many of the requested documents, since communications and documents related to the requests for information were missing.
The district did release records showing it uses Gender Spectrum’s model for a Gender Support Plan, a document that establishes steps to hide a child’s new gender identity from his or her parents.
The form asks whether “guardians” are aware of the child’s gender status, ranks the level of their support, then asks: “If [the] support level is low, what considerations must be accounted for in implementing this plan?”
The district also uses a form called an Individual Transition Plan, which asks whether a student’s parents are aware of his or her transition to another gender. A parent’s signature on the plan is optional.
Burbank Unified School District didn’t respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment.
The school district’s website includes a hyperlink to the LGBT Center of Los Angeles, which offers so-called gender-affirming care. Many critics consider that term a misnomer for often irreversible and sterilizing transgender medical interventions.
“Whether you’re considering transitioning, are in the process of transitioning, or have already transitioned,” the school district’s website says, “the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s medical providers specialize in the care of transgender people—and provide the expert treatment and consultation that you deserve.”
Medical interventions offered by the LGBT Center include hormone treatments, preparation for transgender surgery, and free chest binders.
The Center for American Liberty made numerous records requests exposing what it considers to be school districts’ plans to exclude parents from making decisions about how they raise their children, particularly when it comes to instruction about gender identity.
The nonprofit exposed another California school district, Newport-Mesa, for forcing students to choose between rooming with a transgender-identifying student or missing out on an overnight school field trip, as The Daily Signal first reported.
Capistrano Unified School District, in California’s southern Orange County, allows a student to change his or her name and gender in school records without parental permission, according to records obtained by the Center for American Liberty and shared with The Daily Signal.
The center also reported that South Pasadena Unified School District paid $1,500 to an organization that wants a “more inclusive world for gender-diverse children and teens” for a three-hour workshop on so-called gender inclusion.
The widespread disregard for parental rights in California, the center argues, follows the example of Newsom, who on July 15 signed legislation known as AB 1955 that allows public schools to hide a student’s gender identity from his or her parents.
AB 1955 overrules any school board policies that require transparency with parents about their child’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
“Gov. Newsom is pushing parents’ rights out of the picture,” the Center for American Liberty’s Dhillon said. “We are committed to holding [Burbank Unified School District] accountable and ensuring they fulfill their obligations under the law.”
[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by The Daily Signal.]
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