In a landmark ruling, San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Thomas S. Garza has temporarily halted a policy in the Chino Valley Unified School District that required schools to notify parents if their children changed their gender identification or pronouns.
The judge's decision comes in the wake of a lawsuit filed by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who argued the policy endangers LGBTQ+ students.
Unpacking the Judge's Decision
Judge Garza's ruling puts a pause on the school district's policy while Bonta's lawsuit continues to make its way through the legal system.
During the hearing, the judge questioned the rationale behind the policy and how it aimed to protect students. While full details of the judge's order are yet to be disclosed, the next court hearing on the issue is scheduled for October 13.
"Today's decision by the San Bernardino Superior Court rightfully upholds the state rights of our LGBTQ+ students and protects kids from harm by immediately halting the board's forced outing policy," Attorney General Rob Bonta stated.
The Policy and Its Detractors
California Attorney General Rob Bonta contends that the policy could forcibly exclude transgender students, thereby violating their privacy rights and compromising their well-being.
During the court hearing, Deputy Attorney General for California, Delbert Tran, emphasized that students were already feeling the negative impact.
"This policy needs to be addressed now," Tran urged.
The Chino Valley Unified School District, serving 27,000 students about 35 miles east of Los Angeles, is among several California districts adopting such policies.
Lawyers representing Chino Valley Unified contended that the policy in question wouldn't impact students engaged in confidential dialogues with educators.
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Instead, they argued that the policy is designed to involve parents when students make more public choices, like altering their name or pronouns, using restrooms, or participating in sports teams that align with a gender different from the one indicated on their official documents.
Sonja Shaw, president of the Chino Valley Unified Board of Education, expressed her disappointment with the judge's decision, stating that the issue deserves attention and that parents should be allowed to be more involved in their children's education on issues ranging from gender identification to curriculum.
National Debate and California's Unique Stand
Earlier in the year, a lawsuit was settled involving the Spreckels Union School District in Monterey County, California.
The lawsuit had been filed by a mother claiming that the school had facilitated the "social transitioning" of her then-11-year-old child in 2019 by permitting the child to use male pronouns and male bathrooms, all without her approval.
While the district agreed to a $100,000 settlement, it did not admit any fault, according to the Center for American Liberty, which represented the mother.
The child has since re-identified as female, as the mother stated.
As debates over transgender rights escalate nationally, several states are taking steps to enforce restrictions on gender-affirming care, exclude transgender athletes from participating in female sports, and mandate that schools disclose the transgender or nonbinary status of students to their parents.
The question of transgender rights and LGBTQ+ issues has taken center stage nationally, with several states enacting controversial policies.
In California, similar parental notification policies gained traction after Republican state lawmaker Bill Essayli proposed a statewide bill.
Although the bill never saw a hearing in Sacramento, it influenced policies like the one voted on in Chino Valley.
This issue in California is made all the more complex by an ongoing ideological struggle between increasingly conservative school districts and the state's predominantly Democratic political leadership, spearheaded by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
