California is suing to stop schools from outing trans kids to their parents

MicroWave@lemmy.world to politics @lemmy.world – 633 points –
California is suing to stop schools from outing trans kids to their parents
politico.com

State Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit Monday to stop a Southern California school district from outing transgender students to their parents, arguing that the policy violates students’ civil and constitutional rights and could cause them “mental emotional, psychological, and potential physical harm.”

Bonta’s suit against the Chino Valley Unified School District is the latest attempt by Democratic state officials to combat the recent adoption of such policies by conservative school boards. The outcome of the case could have bearing on other districts that have enacted similar rules in the last two months, including Murrieta Valley, Temecula and Anderson Union High School.

...

The policy passed last month by the Chino Valley Unified School Board requires schools to inform parents whenever a student asks to use a different name or pronoun than what’s in their official record, or if a student requests to use facilities or participate in programs that don’t align with their assigned sex. A similar statewide proposal, introduced by Republican Assemblymember Bill Essayli, stalled and has almost no chance of becoming law in the Democratic supermajority Legislature.

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Yeah seriously this is a basic safeguarding concern. Don't out people. If the child wants their parents to know, they will tell them as and when they are ready.

They claim it's "parental rights", but these same people will not even hesitate for a MOMENT to dismiss the rights of the parents if it means interfering with conservative values. They'll ban books the parents want their kids to access, refuse to use pronouns/identities requested by parents, proselytize children against the faith of the family (because the SCOTUS has all but abandoned the establishment clause as a limit on state-sanctioned religious activity), forbid teaching subjects like black history that parents want their children to know about, and anything else that is part of their culture war.

Conservatism is a cancer on society.

Yup. Even in the same piece of legislation:

  • Teachers cannot be forced to gender students correctly, because free speech. (The parents' "parental rights" over how their child is addressed don't apply)
  • Teachers cannot choose to gender students correctly, because "parental rights". (The teachers free speech rights to choose how they address the child don't apply)

But it is worth pointing out, as much as it seems hypocritical of them to do this: Conservatives know. They do not care. It's not hypocritical because they have never believed that the rules should ever apply to them. It's a strategy, and it is very, very effective.

(edit: typo)

"Parental rights" is just another dog whistle. It's up there with zoning laws concerning multi-family dwellings.

My liberal parents persuaded me out of transitioning as a teen, my Dad worked at the school district so there was no avoiding him finding out without my consent and without my planning to handle the backlash.

I'm sorry you had to go through that.