California gender-identity law elicits praise from LGBTQ+ advocates, backlash from parent groups

LGBTQ+ advocacy groups lauded a new California law barring school districts from requiring that parents be notified of their child's gender identification change, while opponents said the ban makes it harder for schools to be transparent with parents.

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the first-in-the-nation law Monday, which bans districts 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 new 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.”

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.

Newsom spokesperson Brandon Richards said the new California law will “keep children safe while protecting the critical role of parents.”

“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,” Richards said in a statement.

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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