California Gov. Signs Bill Banning Parental Notification Policies

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a news conference in Sacramento, Calif., on Feb. 1, 2023.Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation on July 15 that bans California school staff from informing parents about changes in their child’s preferred gender identity without the student’s consent.

The legislation, which the governor signed into law along with a handful of other bills, prohibits school districts from requiring staff to disclose any information related to a student’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to anyone without the child’s consent. It also protects teachers and school staff from retaliation for not informing parents.

On July 16, Elon Musk vowed to move the headquarters of SpaceX and social media platform X out of California in response, calling this legislation “the final straw.”

“Because of this law and the many others that preceded it, attacking both families and companies, SpaceX will now move its HQ from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas,” Mr. Musk wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“I did make it clear to Governor Newsom about a year ago that laws of this nature would force families and companies to leave California to protect their children.”

He later said that X headquarters will move from San Francisco to Austin, Texas.

Brandon Richards, a spokesperson for Mr. Newsom, said via email: “This law helps 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.”

Proponents of Assembly Bill 1955 have called parental notification policies such as those adopted by the Chino Valley Unified and Temecula Valley Unified school districts “forced outing” policies, while opponents argue that “secrecy” policies keep parents in the dark about their children.

Assemblyman Chris Ward (D-San Diego) introduced AB 1955, the Support Academic Futures and Educators for Today’s Youth (SAFETY) Act, as a priority bill for California’s 13-member Legislative LGBTQ Caucus. The Assembly voted 60–15 along party lines last month to pass the bill.

Mr. Ward said in a statement that “discussions about gender identity remain a private matter within the family.”

Assemblymember Chris Ward introduced AB 1955 on May 22, 2024. Assemblymember Chris Ward

State Sen. Susan Eggman (D-Stockton), who chairs the Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, said in the statement that the governor’s signature on the bill “reaffirms California’s position as a leader and safe haven for LGBTQ+ youth everywhere.”

AB 1955 codifies California Department of Education guidance that in situations involving a child’s change in gender identity at school, it should be left up to the child to decide whether to tell his or her parents.

State Assemblyman Bill Essayli (R-Corona), an attorney and former federal prosecutor, condemned the bill as “immoral and unconstitutional” in a July 15 statement, saying it endangers children and will be challenged in court.

Mr. Essayli noted that his AB 1314, which would have ensured that parents were notified if their child changed their gender identity at school, was killed in committee when the chairman of the Assembly Education Committee declined to set a hearing.

Court Challenges

California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued Chino Valley Unified School District and won a partial preliminary injunction in October 2023 blocking the district from enforcing its parental notification policy.

Meanwhile, a federal case, Mirabelli v. Olson, involving two teachers who sued the Escondido Union School District, is pending before the courts.

Federal Judge Roger Benitez granted a preliminary injunction in September 2023 blocking the district from punishing the two teachers for refusing to keep gender transitions of students from their parents. The teachers, Elizabeth Mirabelli and Lori Ann West, were reinstated after the district suspended them.

Teachers Lori Ann West (L) and Elizabeth Mirabelli. Courtesy of Paul Jonna

The judge ruled that parental exclusion policies violate parents’ constitutional rights. He described such policies as a “trifecta of harm” that harms the student, who needs parental guidance and possibly mental health intervention, harms the parents by depriving them of making decisions for their child, and harms teachers by forcing them to conceal information they feel is critical for the welfare of their students.

Erin Friday, an attorney whose teenage daughter once identified as a male but has since reembraced her female body, told The Epoch Times via text message that AB 1955 undermines “the sacrosanct” parent–child bond.

She said the law will affect parents, who want to “know that their own flesh and blood is suffering from gender dysphoria, a mental-health condition included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.”

On the same day that the bill was signed into law, the Liberty Justice Center, representing the Chino Valley Unified School District and a number of Californian parents with children in public schools, filed a lawsuit.

“School officials do not have the right to keep secrets from parents,” the group said in a statement.

In response to a request for comment, Mr. Bonta told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement that the new law “reaffirms students’ constitutional and statutory rights not to be subjected to forced outing at school and it also reaffirms that forced outing policies and any form of retaliation against teachers, parents, and allies who protect students against such constitutional and statutory harms are a clear violation of state law.”