California bans policies mandating parental notification for pronoun changes

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation on Monday barring schools from requiring administrators to notify parents if a student changes how he or she identifies himself or herself. California became the first state to pass legislation banning mandatory parental notification if a student changes their name, pronouns, or sex identity.

California leaders fought against parental notification long before the law’s passage. Attorney General Rob Bonta sued a school district that required parental notification when a child changed their pronouns and described the policies as discriminatory and dangerous. Chino Valley School Board President Sonja Shaw called the lawsuit an attempt to shut parents out of their children’s lives. State legislators passed the bill in a landslide vote despite teachers and parents testifying against the policy.

Reactions from Right: The so-called Safety Bill undermines parental rights when children are confused and vulnerable, California’s Family Council wrote. The Center for American Liberty described the measure as a cowardly response to its countersuit fighting Attorney General Bonta’s lawsuit against the Chino Valley school district. The law will keep parents in the dark while schools support radical gender ideology, said Harmeet Dhillon, Founder and CEO of the Center for American Liberty. Parents attempted to fight parental secrecy policies by running for school boards and local voices are crucial to the democratic process that shapes education, she added.

Reactions from left: Mandatory notification forcibly outs the students, or reveals their sexual identity, wrote bill sponsor state Assemblymember Christopher Ward. The Safety Act guarantees that gender discussions remain a private family matter, he argued. The state legislature’s LGBTQ+ caucus also applauded the bill being passed into law.

Dig deeper: Read Mary Muncy’s report about healthcare professionals ignoring the costs of transgenderism.