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California Attorney General Rob Bonta has sued to stop the Chino Valley Unified School District from notifying parents when their children seek to change their gender identity, calling the rule a “forced outing policy.”
Mr. Bonta unveiled the lawsuit Monday, the same day that Protect Our Kids launched three transgender-related ballot initiatives, including one requiring schools to alert parents about their children changing their gender identity.
“The forced outing policy wrongfully endangers the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of non-conforming students who lack an accepting environment in the classroom and at home,” Mr. Bonta said. “Our message to Chino Valley Unified and all school districts in California is loud and clear: We will never stop fighting for the civil rights of LGBTQ+ students.”
The state’s legal action sent a message to other school districts, including Anderson Union, Murrieta Valley Unified and Temecula Valley Unified, which followed Chino Valley in passing policies mandating parental notification when children seek to change their names, pronouns, records and other markers as part of their gender transition.
District spokesperson Andrea Johnston said the board has not yet seen the lawsuit, while Sonja Shaw, president of the Chino Valley Unified school board, vowed to fight the state effort.
“We will stand our ground and protect our children with all we can because we are not breaking the law,” she told The Associated Press. “Parents have a constitutional right in the upbringing of their children. Period.”
Republican Assemblyman Bill Essayli tweeted: “The CA Attorney General [is] suing to stop schools from giving information to parents. He will lose both in the court of law and public opinion.”
The lawsuit filed in San Bernardino County Superior Court seeks a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to stop the district from enforcing the rule, which was passed last month. The district is located about 35 miles east of Los Angeles.
Mr. Bonta accused the district of violating the state’s Equal Protection Clause, saying the rule “unlawfully discriminates and singles out students who request to identify with or use names or pronouns different from those on their birth certificates.”
The lawsuit also alleges violations of the state’s education and government code and the state constitution’s right to privacy.
The California Attorney General says the policy to inform parents “endangers the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of non-conforming students”
— Corey A. DeAngelis, school choice evangelist (@DeAngelisCorey) August 28, 2023
These authoritarians think they own your kids.https://t.co/0Go266PwpH
Ms. Johnston defended the policy, saying it “does protect transgender students by requiring staff to notify CPS/law enforcement if the student believes they are in danger or have been abused, injured, or neglected due to their parent or guardian knowing of their preferred gender identity.”
“In these circumstances, CVUSD staff will not notify parents or guardians, but rather, wait for the appropriate agencies to complete their investigations regarding the concerns shared by the student,” she said in a statement to The Washington Times.
Mr. Bonta’s press conference in Los Angeles was held shortly before Protect Kids California announced in Sacramento that it has filed paperwork to qualify three initiatives for the November 2024 state ballot with the state attorney general’s office.
The proposed initiatives would ban transgender athletes in girls’ sports; prohibit medical gender transitions for minors, and require schools to notify parents about their children’s gender-change efforts.
Jonathan Zachreson, who heads Protect Kids California, said polling shows the measures would “pass overwhelmingly if we get them on the ballot, but the hard part is getting them on the ballot, and there’s where we need your help.”
The committee plans to begin circulating petitions in about 60 days, after which supporters will have 180 days to collect the requisite signatures, he said in a video post.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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