The California state legislature is considering a new bill, AB 1955, that would prohibit schools from notifying parents if their children decide to change genders. The bill, backed by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, aims to prevent the forced “outing” of transgender students.
The proposed legislation comes in the wake of a contentious incident last year in the Chino Valley Unified School District, where Thurmond was removed for disorderly conduct from a school board meeting. During that meeting, the board approved a policy requiring schools to notify parents if their children wanted to change genders, effectively overriding Gov. Gavin Newsom’s statewide policy on the matter.
The state subsequently sued the district over its policy, and a temporary injunction was granted by U.S. Judge Roger Benitez, an appointee of President George W. Bush, blocking the implementation of Newsom’s policy. This prompted a blistering attack from Newsom, targeting Benitez’s stance on gun control.
Undeterred, California Democrats are now seeking to enshrine Newsom’s policy into law through AB 1955. The relevant text of the bill states:
“This bill would 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, as provided.”
Thurmond hailed the bill last week, stating, “When and how a person comes out is a conversation that should be reserved for a student and a parent, not arbitrarily forced on unsuspecting youth by a school administration.”
Newsom has also defended his school’s policy as an attempt to prevent “outing” students, whom he claims would be bullied if their new gender identity were known to peers.
However, when questioned by Breitbart News last year to justify his policy, Newsom could not provide a clear explanation as to why parents should not be notified about their children’s gender transitions.