Southern California school district sues Gov. Newsom over new gender-identity law

Associated Press/Report for America

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California school district involved in an ongoing legal battle with the state over the district’s gender-identity policy sued Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom Tuesday over a new law banning districts from requiring that parents be notified of their child’s gender identification change.

The Chino Valley Unified School District and a handful of parents argued the law violates the rights of parents protected under the U.S. Constitution.

“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,” Emily Rae, a lawyer representing the district, said in a statement.

But Newsom spokesperson Izzy Gardon called the lawsuit “deeply unserious” and said the new law “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,” Gardon said in an email. “We’re confident the state will swiftly prevail in this case.”

Attorney General Rob Bonta sued Chino Valley Unified over a rule its board approved last year requiring school staff to notify parents if their children change their gender identification or pronouns. Bonta said the law discriminated against gender non-conforming students. A judge halted the policy while the case plays out, and the district later updated the rule to broadly require parents to be notified if their child asks to make any changes to their student records.

LGBTQ+ advocacy groups lauded the new California law, while opponents said the ban makes it harder for schools to be transparent with parents.

Newsom signed the first-in-the-nation law Monday, which bans districts from requiring school staff to disclose a student’s gender identity or sexual orientation to any other person without the child’s permission, with some exceptions. It also requires the state Department of Education to develop resources for families of LGBTQ+ students in grade 7 through high school. The law will take effect in January.

Proponents of the ban say it will help protect transgender and gender-nonconforming students who live in unwelcoming households.

“This critical legislation strengthens protections for LGBTQ+ youth against forced outing policies, provides resources for parents and families of LGBTQ+ students to support them as they have conversations on their terms, and creates critical safeguards to prevent retaliation against teachers and school staff who foster a safe and supportive school environment for all students,” Tony Hoang, executive director of LGBTQ+ advocacy group Equality California, said in a statement.

But some conservative groups, including the California Family Council, said the law violates parents’ rights.

“This bill undermines their fundamental role and places boys and girls in potential jeopardy,” Jonathan Keller, the council’s president, said in a statement. “Moms and dads have both a constitutional and divine mandate to guide and protect their kids, and AB 1955 egregiously violates this sacred trust.”

Billionaire Elon Musk said he would move the headquarters of SpaceX and the social media platform X to Texas from California in part because of the new law. Tesla, where Musk is CEO, moved its headquarters to Austin from Palo Alto, California, in 2021.

The new law comes after several school districts in California passed policies requiring that parents be notified if a child requests to change their gender identification. That led to pushback by Democratic state officials, who say students have a right to privacy. Nationwide, lawmakers, families and advocates have been debating the rights of local school districts, parents and LGBTQ+ students.

At least six states have requirements that schools notify parents when minors disclose that they are transgender or ask to be referred to with a different pronoun, according to Associated Press reporting: Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Virginia asked school boards to adopt similar policies, but it does not have a law.

Arizona and Idaho also require schools to provide certain information to parents but do not specify gender expression or sexual orientation.

In New Jersey, Attorney General Matt Platkin last year sued four school districts, claiming their policies violate an anti-discrimination law that allows gender-expression information to be shared with a student’s family only with their permission or if there’s a risk to the student’s health and safety.

Conservative groups including the Pacific Justice Institute, the Goldwater Institute and Family Policy Alliance have attempted to intervene in the lawsuit.

States have also weighed in on lawsuits over how local school districts have handled transgender students. Last year, for instance, 23 Republican state attorneys general filed a brief to support a Chico, California, mother who claimed that school officials allowed her child to socially transition without her permission. Sixteen Democratic attorneys general filed a brief on the other side.

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Associated Press writer Geoff Mulvihill in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, contributed to this report.

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Austin is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin on X: @sophieadanna