OPPOSE THE LAW PLAN TO CHALLENGE IT. WE’RE JUST PEOPLE. WE’RE JUST EXISTING. SABRINA NAVES CAME OUT AS TRANSGENDER IN 2018, WHILE SHE IS NOW THE PRESIDENT OF PFLAG SACRAMENTO, AN LGBTQ SUPPORT GROUP. WHEN SHE WAS YOUNGER, SHE WAS NOT READY TO BE OPEN ABOUT WHO SHE WAS. I KNOW THAT IF I HAD BEEN FORCIBLY OUTED TO MY PARENTS, THAT WOULD HAVE DEFINITELY BEEN AN ISSUE OF SAFETY FOR ME. THAT’S WHY NAVES IS THRILLED GOVERNOR NEWSOM JUST SIGNED ASSEMBLY BILL 1955 INTO LAW. IT BANNED SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN CALIFORNIA FROM HAVING POLICIES THAT REQUIRE PARENTS TO BE NOTIFIED ABOUT THEIR CHILD’S SEXUAL ORIENTATION, GENDER IDENTITY OR GENDER EXPRESSION WITHOUT THE STUDENT’S CONSENT. THAT INCLUDES NON-BINARY AND TRANSGENDER STUDENTS. WE’RE DEFINITELY RELIEVED THE LEGISLATION SPARKED HEATED ARGUMENTS THIS YEAR AT THE STATE CAPITOL. EVEN JUST A FEW WEEKS AGO, A DEBATE BETWEEN LAWMAKERS ALMOST TURNED VIOLENT OVER THE BILL. YOU DON’T NEED A NEW LAW TO FURTHER DIVIDE CHILDREN FROM PARENTS. THE CALIFORNIA FAMILY COUNCIL, THE CHRISTIAN PUBLIC POLICY ORGANIZATION, OPPOSES THE BILL. BASIC COMMON SENSE TELLS US THAT PARENTS HAVE THE ULTIMATE RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT AND DEFEND THEIR CHILDREN, AND WE BELIEVE THAT THIS LAW NOT ONLY TAKES AWAY THOSE PARENTAL RIGHTS, BUT IT ACTUALLY WILL PUT CHILDREN IN DANGER. SO WHAT’S NEXT FOR OPPONENTS? WE ABSOLUTELY ANTICIPATE FUTURE LEGAL CHALLENGES FOR THIS PUBLIC AND ASSEMBLY MEMBER BILL, EASILY OF RIVERSIDE. POSTED ON X MONDAY, VOWING TO CHALLENGE THE LAW IN COURT. BUT THE SACRAMENTO LGBT COMMUNITY CENTER BELIEVES THAT ATTEMPT WILL BE FUTILE. I THINK THAT THAT ULTIMATELY THAT THE COURTS ARE GOING TO FIND THAT THIS ALIGNS WITH THE PREVIOUS POLICIES THAT WERE PASSED, THE PREVIOUS LAWS THAT HAVE BEEN PASSED, AND THE CONSTITUTIONS PROTECTIONS FOR EVERYONE TO BE TREATED EQUALLY. CEO DAVID HEITZMAN SAYS YOUNG PEOPLE SHOULD CONTROL WHEN AND HOW THEY TELL THEIR PARENTS. FOR MY OWN SELF COMING OUT, IT WAS REALLY IMPORTANT FOR ME TO HAVE THE THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE ABLE TO SHARE WITH WHO I WANTED, WHEN I WANTED, WHEN I WAS READY. LGBTQ ADVOCATES SAY THEY WILL FIGHT AGAINST ANY LEGAL CHALLENGES THAT COME UP REPORTING FROM THE STATE CAPITOL ORKO MANNA KCRA THREE NEWS. BILLIONAIRE ELON MUSK SAYS HE PLANS TO MOVE THE HEADQUARTERS OF SPACEX AND SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANY X TO TEXAS FROM CALIFORNIA. HE SAID. THIS NEW NOTIFICATION BAN BILL WAS THE, QUOTE, FINAL STRAW, ADDING THAT HE WARNED GOVERNOR NEWSOM THAT LAWS OF THIS NATURE
Opponents of gender notification ban in California schools promise legal fight
Meanwhile, LGBTQ advocates praised Governor Newsom for signing Assembly Bill 1955 into law this week.
Lawmakers and organizations opposed to a new law banning gender notification in California schools said they vow to challenge the legislation in court.Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1955 into law Monday. It prohibits school districts in California from having policies that require teachers or staff to disclose a student’s sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression to the student’s parents, without the student’s consent. That includes nonbinary and transgender students.LGBTQ advocates said the law is a good step forward in protecting students when it comes to how they identify.“Young people should really be in control of their own destiny and what it is that they’re ready for, in being able to disclose what their identities are to teachers, their peers, to their parents, and so this really puts that kind of control and autonomy back with the students,” Sacramento LGBT Community Center CEO David Heitstuman said. “It’s super important for young people to be the ones in control of when they disclose and how they disclose, that that’s so important. For my own self coming out, it was really important for me to have the opportunity to be able to share with who I wanted when I wanted, when I was ready.”Sabrina Naves is the president of PFLAG Sacramento, an organization that supports the parents and friends of LGBTQ people. Naves said she is thrilled Gov. Newsom signed AB 1955 into law.“I’m relieved. I know there was a lot of pressure on him to veto it,” Naves said. “We’re definitely relieved.”Naves came out as transgender in 2018. While she is the head of an LGBTQ organization now, Naves said when she was younger she was not ready to be open about who she was. “I know that if I had been forcibly outed to my parents, that would have definitely been an issue of safety for me,” Naves said. “It’s incredibly harmful for kids to be forcibly outed when they’re not ready to have that conversation with parents.”However, opponents of the new law said that excluding parents from those conversations is unacceptable. California Family Council, a Christian public policy organization, said the law creates a divide between parents and their children.“Basic common sense tells us that parents have the ultimate responsibility to protect and defend their children, and we believe that this law not only takes away those parental rights, but it actually will put children in danger,” California Family Council president Jonathan Keller said. “Children need their parents. A teacher, a school administrator is not a substitute for a mother and a father.”Keller said his organization, as well as others that oppose the law, will challenge it in the courts.“I think we’re going to be looking at all of our legal options,” Keller said. “We absolutely anticipate future legal challenges for this.”Assemblymember Bill Essayli, R-Riverside, who opposed the bill as it worked through the legislature, posted on X Monday, vowing to challenge the law in court.He said, in part, “Governor Newsom signing #AB1955 is both immoral and unconstitutional and we will challenge it in court to stop the government from keeping secrets from parents.”Opponents did not specify what exactly their legal challenges would look like or provide a potential timeline for their action.Late Tuesday, the Liberty Justice Center announced it had filed a lawsuit challenging the law. In the wake of the governor signing AB 1955 into law, billionaire Elon Musk said he is moving the headquarters of SpaceX and social media company X to Texas from California.“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,” Musk wrote.See more coverage of top California stories here
