A Southern California school district has sued Governor Gavin Newsom (D) over a bill prohibiting schools from informing parents of their child’s desire to change their gender.
The Chino Valley Unified School District claims the law violates parental rights.
“PK-12 minor students, most of whom are too young to drive, vote, or provide medical consent for themselves, are also too young to make life-altering decisions about their expressed gender identity without their parents’ knowledge. But that is precisely what AB 1955 enables—with potentially devastating consequences for children too young to fully comprehend them,” Emily Rae, Senior Counsel at the Liberty Justice Center, said in a statement.
“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. Parents are the legal guardians of their children, not Governor Newsom, Attorney General Bonta, or Superintendent Thurmond. We will continue to defend parents’ rights and children’s well-being by challenging invasive laws like AB 1955 in court, at no cost to taxpayers,” she added.
The lawsuit was filed by the Liberty Justice Center on behalf of the school district.
Newsom’s spokesperson, Izzy Gardon, called the lawsuit “deeply unserious.”
“This is a deeply unserious lawsuit, seemingly designed to stoke the dumpster fire formerly known as Twitter rather than surface legitimate legal claims,” Gardon said. “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.”
Newsom’s press office said the bill “protects the child-parent relationship by PREVENTING politicians & school staff from inappropriately intervening in family matters & attempting to control if, when, & how families have deeply personal conversations.”
The bill, AB 1955, prohibits “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.”
California Family Council President Jonathan Keller said the bill is a “direct assault on the safety of children and the rights of their parents.”
“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. Moms and dads have both a constitutional and divine mandate to guide and protect their kids, and AB 1955 egregiously violates this sacred trust.”
