California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit Monday against the Chino school district, ordering an end to a policy that requires notifying parents if their children change their gender identity, alleging it is discriminatory and violates civil rights and privacy laws.
The “parental notification” policy, which has been proposed by a handful of conservative-leaning districts in California, puts transgender and gender-nonconforming students in “danger of imminent, irreparable harm” by potentially forcibly “outing” them at home before they’re ready, according to the lawsuit.
It’s potentially giving abusive parents ammo to withhold gender affirming care such as social transitioning, which is proven to reduce suicide rates in trans kids and teens. Parents forcing their kids to stop socially transitioning in school can be traumatic, and cause long term emotional damage, and it can even result in children being kicked out of their homes as a result in some cases. It’s taking away a space where they feel safe to express themselves against their will. Even for kids where they won’t experience a worst case scenario, there’s no reason to tell a kid’s parent that they’re presenting as a different gender at school instead of letting them make that choice for themselves. Either the kid feels safe enough to tell their parents themselves, or they don’t. And if they don’t feel safe telling their parents then forcibly outing them is one of the cruelest things you can do to a child in that situation. Coming out to your family is an extremely personal thing and should only ever be up to the person to decide when and who to tell, not their school.
Agreed. 100%. I hope California can stop them from disclosing that to their parents.