A lawsuit filed against Chico Unified School District has sparked new legislation that opponents say would harm transgender youth. The bill would require school employees to notify parents in writing if they become aware that a student identifies as a gender other than their sex assigned at birth.
Riverside Assemblyman Bill Essayli and Yuba City Assemblyman James Gallagher introduced Assembly Bill 1314 earlier this month.
"I think it clarifies the constitutional rights of parents," Gallagher said. "That parents have the right to parent their children and be involved in their kids’ education, development, etc."
In the Chico lawsuit that Gallagher said helped inspire his bill, a local mother alleged a school counselor pressured her child to transition. She claims the district violated her constitutional rights because officials didn't tell her about it.
Earlier this month, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California issued a preliminary ruling in the district's favor. Senior Judge John A. Mendez denied a request for aninjunction that would stop schools from accommodating gender-nonconforming students without parental permission.
California’s antidiscrimination laws as well as federal laws give students the right to keep their gender identity private, according to the California Department of Education.
Opponents of AB 1314 and bills like it say it would violate the constitutional rights of students.
"LGBTQ young people and trans people should be able to make decisions about when they come out, and to whom," said Jennifer Chou, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California. "They know best what their circumstances are, what feels safe to them. It should be up to them to decide"
Chou said that forcibly outing trans students can put them at risk at home. A recent survey by the Trevor Project, an LGBTQ research and advocacy group, found that just under a third of transgender and nonbinary students find their home gender affirming. Meanwhile, about half said their school is. The survey also found that LGBTQ youth who feel affirmed at school report lower rates of attempting suicide.
Last week, also in response to the Chico lawsuit, California District 1 Representative Doug LaMalfa introduced a federal bill that he says would strengthen parental rights in schools. The bill's text was not available at the time of writing.
