California has enacted a law making it the first state to prevent school districts from mandating staff to inform parents about their child’s gender identity change. Governor Gavin Newsom signed the legislation on Monday.
The law prohibits school policies that require teachers and staff to disclose a student’s gender identity or sexual orientation to anyone without the child’s consent. Supporters argue that this measure will safeguard LGBTQ students who may face hostility at home.
Critics contend it could impede schools’ transparency with parents. The law emerges amidst a broader national discourse on parental rights, local school policies, and LGBTQ student protections.
“This law helps keep children safe while protecting the critical role of parents,” Brandon Richards, a spokesperson for Newsom, said in a statement. “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 recent legislation follows instances where several school districts in California implemented policies mandating parental notification if a child seeks to change their gender identity. This sparked opposition from Democratic state officials, who argue that students deserve privacy rights.
Jonathan Zachreson, a California advocate supporting parental notification policies, opposes the new law, emphasizing that informing parents about a student’s request to change gender identity is crucial for children’s well-being and for maintaining trust between schools and parents.
States across the nation have been pushing for bans on gender-affirming care, restrictions on transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports, and mandates requiring schools to disclose changes in emotional health or well-being of trans and nonbinary students to their parents. In response, California’s recent law sparked intense debate in the state Legislature.
LGBTQ lawmakers shared personal stories, underscoring the importance of allowing transgender students to disclose their identity on their own terms, echoing their own experiences of deciding when to come out to their families.
Republican State Assemblymember Bill Essayli, representing part of Riverside County, strongly opposed the law and criticized Democratic leaders for blocking a bill he proposed last year, which would have mandated parental notification of a child’s gender identification change, from advancing to a hearing.
In Northern California, the Anderson Union High School District board approved a parental notification policy last year, but the teachers union advised against enforcing the rule amidst ongoing labor disputes with the district over the policy, explained Shaye Stephens, an English teacher and president of the teachers association at the district. According to Stephens, these notification policies place teachers in an unfair predicament.
“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 said. “I do not think that we are the right people to be having those conversations with a parent or a guardian.”
