On Monday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against a school district that implemented a policy requiring staffers to inform parents of their children’s gender identity.
The Chino Valley Unified School District in San Bernardino County adopted a new policy that protects parental rights by requiring them be notified if their child begins going by a chosen name, preferred pronouns, or wants to use restrooms that align with their “gender identity” instead of their biological sex, which Townhall previously reported.
Shortly after, Townhall covered how the nearby Murrieta Valley Unified School District board announced it would take up a measure that would require school staff to “out” trans kids to their parents. A third district, Orange Unified, indicated they would follow suit, and possibly the massive Los Angeles Unified School District.
Now, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) administration is aiming to stop Chino Unified and all the other school districts from implementing these kinds of policies that protect parents’ rights.
According to The New York Times, Bonta filed his lawsuit in San Bernardino Superior Court asking for a temporary injunction against Chino Valley’s policy and a permanent order blocking it entirely. He argued that the policy denies students’ right to education and privacy, as well as it being discriminatory.
For far too many transgender and gender nonconforming youth, school serves as their only safe haven.
— Rob Bonta (@AGRobBonta) August 28, 2023
We have to protect that. We have to ensure our schools are sanctuaries for every single student. pic.twitter.com/rZTHzombHC
In remarks on Monday, Bonta claimed that transgender people are at risk, especially at home.
"Many also face great danger at home," Bonta said. "Transgender youth are staggeringly overrepresented in homeless populations. In the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, 15 percent of respondents said they ran away from home or were kicked out because of their gender identity. Fewer and one in three found their home to be gender-affirming. And, 10 percent they said they had experienced violence from an immediate family member because they were transgender."
In a statement to the Times, Bonta said that the Chino Valley policy “wrongfully endangers the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of nonconforming students who lack an accepting environment in the classroom and at home.” He added that the lawsuit serves as a “message” that “we will never stop fighting for the civil rights of LGBTQ+ students.”
Sonja Shaw, the Chino Valley school board president, responded in a statement to the Times.
“Bring it,” Shaw said. “This is another ploy to stop all the districts around California from adopting a common sense legal policy. We will stand our ground and protect our children with all we can because we are not breaking the law.”
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