With a bill passed on Monday by Governor Gavin Newsom, California became the first state in the union to prohibit school districts from mandating employees to inform parents of their child’s gender identity change.
The law prohibits policies in schools that require staff members, including teachers, to reveal a student’s gender identity or sexual orientation to other parties without the student’s consent.
The law’s supporters claim that it will shield LGBTQ+ youngsters from homes that do not accept them. Opponents counter that it will make it more difficult for schools to communicate with parents.
The bill is being introduced in the midst of a national discussion about local school systems, parental rights, and the education of LGBTQ+ youth.
“This law helps keep children safe while protecting the critical role of parents,” Brandon Richards, a spokesperson for Newsom, stated. “It protects the child-parent relationship by preventing politicians and school staff from inappropriately intervening in family matters and attempting to control if, when, and how families have deeply personal conversations.”
The new rule was enacted in response to measures imposed by a number of Californian school districts mandating that parents be informed when a child asks to change their gender identity. Democratic state officials retaliated against that, arguing that pupils have a right to privacy.
The law is opposed by Jonathan Zachreson, a California advocate who says that informing parents about a student’s request to change their gender identity is “critical to the well-being of children and for maintaining that trust between schools and parents.” Zachreson also supports the so-called parental notification policies.
States all throughout the nation have attempted to outlaw gender-affirming healthcare, prohibit transgender athletes from participating in women’s and girls’ sports, and mandate that transgender and nonbinary children be disclosed to their parents by their schools.
Other state legislators have proposed legislation requiring parents to be informed of any changes to their child’s emotional health or well-being. The bill’s wording is quite wide.
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There was a contentious debate about the California statute in the state legislature. Legislators who identify as LGBTQ+ have told tales of how hard it was for them to choose when to tell their families about their sexual orientation, and they have argued that transgender kids need to be allowed to express that aspect of their identity on their own terms.
Republican state assemblyman Bill Essayli, who represents a portion of Riverside County, has been a vocal opponent of the bill. He has blasted Democratic leaders for blocking a bill he filed the previous year that would have mandated that parents be informed when their child changes their gender identity.
A parental notification policy was established by the board of the Anderson Union High School District in Northern California last year.
However, Shaye Stephens, an English teacher and the district president of the teachers association, stated that the union advised against instructors enforcing the policy as long as the union and the district are embroiled in a labor battle over it.
According to Stephens, the notification policies place educators in an unfavorable position.
“It’s kind of a lose-lose situation for teachers and administrators or anybody that’s being asked to do this. I don’t think it’s safe for students,” she stated. “I do not think that we are the right people to be having those conversations with a parent or a guardian.”
