A new California bill could change the way schools handle requests from students regarding their gender identity, according to a report from The Daily Signal.
The proposed legislation, AB 1314, would require school employees to inform parents within three days if their child requests to be referred to by a name typically associated with the opposite gender, uses different personal pronouns, or uses a bathroom or locker room designated for the opposite sex.
The bill, sponsored by Assemblymen Bill Essayli and James Gallagher, aims to reinforce parental rights in situations where a minor age 12 or older seeks transgender treatment without parental supervision.
Currently, California law allows minors to request transgender treatment without parental supervision if a counselor or doctor deems it appropriate, Daily Signal notes.
AB 1314 would restore the right of parents to be informed of any medical decision their child makes regarding gender, as outlined in the existing California law:
“Parents and guardians of children enrolled in public schools have the right, and should have the opportunity, as mutually supportive and respectful partners in the education of their children within the public schools, to be informed by the school, and to participate in the education of their children, as specified to include, among other things, having access to the school records of their child,” the bill reads.
Critics of AB 1314 are concerned that passing the bill would “out transgender students” to their parents, potentially exposing them to abuse.
However, many California parents support the legislation, arguing that they have a constitutional right to oversee the care, custody, and control of their children.
Assemblyman Essayli received a letter from Erin Friday, co-leader of the parental advocacy organization Our Duty, urging the California State Assembly to approve the bill.
Friday argued that the current interpretation of California law allows students to hide gender information from their parents, which erodes parental rights:
“Over the last decade, California has been on a crusade to erode parental rights. By misinterpreting Education Code section 221.5, commonly referred to as AB 1266, the state is inducing teachers to withhold information from parents about their children. Specifically, it is permitting this law to be used by teachers as a basis for barring parents from learning that their children have adopted new gender identities at school.”
Friday also pleaded with the California State Assembly to consider the high number of detransitioning children, who recover from gender dysphoria and regret the transgender medical procedures they underwent as adolescents.
She cited a poll conducted by Parents Defending Education, which found that 71% of California voters believe parents should be informed if their child wants to change their gender identity.
The fate of the bill in the California State Assembly is uncertain, given the composition of the Assembly, which includes 62 Democrats and 18 Republicans.
Should the bill make it out of the Assembly, it will then have to pass through the state Senate, which is made up of 32 Democrats and eight Republicans.
