SACRAMENTO —

As lawsuits play out in courts across the state over student gender identity privacy, a bill introduced Wednesday in the California Legislature aims to unilaterally end the policies parental notification – and to protect teachers caught in the fray.

Assemblyman Christopher M. Ward (D-San Diego) is proposing legislation that would protect teachers from “retaliation” for supporting the rights of transgender students and ban school policies that require “forced disclosure” of decisions of young people to their families.

The bill is Democrats’ latest attempt to rein in Republican-backed school board policies, including those that seek to notify parents if their child changes their name or pronouns, or requests to use facilities or participate to programs that do not correspond to their gender. on official records.

Ward called the policy measures “forced exits” and said the new legislation aims to reaffirm and clarify California’s position on the issue and would provide guidance to families of LGBTQ+ students to help them navigate in this sensitive subject.

“Nothing ever was infringing on the parent-child relationship. Nothing is being done today, and nothing would be done if this bill passed,” Ward said before a press conference in Sacramento on Wednesday. “But that’s not the job of teachers: to be the gender police.”

Since school boards in conservative pockets of California began engaging in culture wars over the rights of LGBTQ+ students last summer, a series of lawsuits have followed and conflicting rulings have further complicated the debate over the constitutionality of the right to privacy of minors.

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit last year against the Chino school district, alleging its parental notification policy was discriminatory and violated civil rights and privacy laws.

A San Bernardino County Superior Court judge ruled during a preliminary hearing that the policy was discriminatory because it specifically targeted transgender students. This led the Chino Valley

Bonta filed a new motion against the district last month seeking a final judgment to ensure that school board members do not attempt to reimplement the policy as they have continued to express support.

A Temecula teachers union also sued school officials there over a similar policy. In this case, A Riverside County The Superior Court judge allowed the policy for now. And in Chico, a parent lost a legal battle over allegations that the school district failed to inform him of his child’s gender identity issues.

“We need statutory guidance,” Ward said. “The lack of it is contributing to confusion.”

Meanwhile, anti-transgender activists are backing a ballot measure that would not only require schools statewide to notify parents about students’ gender changes, but would also ban certain transgender health care for minors and enact new rules regarding school restrooms and sports teams. The long-shot ballot measure has yet to acquire enough signatures to make it on the ballot in November.

The bill would “exclude parents from their children’s education,” Assembly Minority Leader James Gallagher (R-Yuba City) said on social media.

“If something is going on regarding the health or well-being of a child, parents have a right to know,” he said.

A Riverside County school district agreed to pay $360,000 last week to settle a lawsuit filed by a former teacher who said she was fired for refusing to comply with a requirement to use students’ preferred pronouns and, in some cases, hiding this information from parents. She said the policy violated her free speech and religious rights.

However, Wednesday’s news conference in Sacramento, packed with Democrats, focused on the alternative possibility that teachers would be forced to violate students’ privacy to alert their families about their gender expression.

“Having a heavy-handed policy like a forced exit policy that forces a teacher to undermine that trust puts up a wall that prevents that education from being provided,” said Jeff Freitas, president of the California Federation of Teachers. “You tell me your pronoun, I use it, we move forward and I teach.”

State Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, who has announced plans to run for governor in 2026, stood alongside Ward and members of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus in support of the bill, and pointed to laws already on the books that protect transgender students, including gender- neutral toilet requirements in schools.

“California students know who they are and who they are becoming. No one else should attempt to define for any of our students who they are,” Thurmond said. “It’s a personal matter. It’s a security issue. It’s a matter of confidentiality.