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| California State Attorney Rob Bonta at a press conference. |
Amid the current turmoil regarding trans rights in the US, California State Attorney Rob Bonta has filed a lawsuit against a SoCal school district to prevent it from outing trans students to their parents.
In the Chino Valley Unified School District, school policy requires the school administration to inform parents if their child requests to use pronouns, names, facilities, or programs that do not align with their assigned gender. Many school districts in the area have too begun or have been considering adopting similar policies, a direct result of conservative school boards elected since the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the state government, currently controlled by the Democrats with a comfortable supermajority in the legislature, have begun pushing back on the so called "Red California" wave of conservatives unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
On August 28, Attorney General Rob Bonta filed suit against the Chino Valley District, seeking a court order that will immediately block the policy in the district. His suit argues that the policy is in violation of the students' civil and constitutional rights, and California privacy laws. Specifically, Bonta argues that the policy violates California's constitutional right to privacy, the California Education Code, and California's Equal Protection Clause. However legal scholars believe that the issue might turn out to be murkier than it appears to be.
The California Education Code does specifically ban discrimination based on disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, nationality, race, or ethnicity and religion. But as Professor John Rogers, a UCLA professor at the Graduate School of Education Studies, and Information Studies notes, the code does not specifically "lay out what to do in this particular instance, where we're talking about student's gender identity." And while it is acknowledged that parents do have a right to information relative to their children, those children also have the right to privacy, and autonomy. It will likely be left up to the courts to determine to what degree those rights override the other. Sarah Perry, a senior legal fellow with the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, a conservative think-tank, believes that this could very well end up in the Supreme Court, "precisely because we're seeing federal courts reach different outcomes as to whether or not it's the parents who have an interest in knowing, or whether or not the child's interest in privacy is superior."
Bonta has cited the case of C.N. v. Wolf as precedent for his suit, where a female high school student sued after being suspended for public displays of affection with another girl that were considered in violation of school policy, saying that her right to privacy had been violated when the school disclosed to her mother that she had been kissing another girl. The courts held that while the student did have the right to privacy regarding her sexual orientation, the principal was also obligated under law to disclose to the student's parents the reasons for why she was being disciplined. Moreover, across the state, other cases have been brought that allege schools of violating parental rights by not informing them of their children's transitioning. In July, a federal court dismissed a case brought against Chino Valley District that accused the district of violating a parent's constitutional rights by failing to disclose that their child had been using different pronouns at school, ruling that the constitution did not mandate such authority for parents.
On a wider scale, this lawsuit is symptomatic of the increasing backlash against trans rights in the US, with many politicians and public figures using anti-trans rhetoric, and states implementing highly restrictive policies geared towards trans children. Already, conservative groups are looking to put legislation further restricting trans children's right on the ballot for next year's elections. These proposals include banning gender affirming care for minors and banning trans students from participating in girls' sports. When the Chino Valley District Board was discussing the policy, they reportedly referred to transgender identity as a "delusion" or "mental illness", which was also cited by Bonta in his argument, saying “the board’s true motivation” was to “manifest and harbor animosity, discrimination and prejudice.” Supporters argue that this is about the rights of parents to be involved in the lives of their children, but critics point out that having schools outing trans children to their parents before they are ready will likely have a detrimental effect on them. The lawsuit was warmly received by several LGBT advocacy groups, with Tony Hoang, executive director of Equality California, saying that “California must stand up against these policies that fly in the face of the principles of equality and respect for all people.”
As of now, it is unknown whether or not the lawsuit will go anywhere. Considering the vagueness of the law concerning this, it is likely that this may end up in a federal court, where it will be decided if a child's right to privacy really does override their parent's rights to their child. The one thing that is certain, however, is that this will have far reaching implications, both for the rights of parents, and for trans people in the US, especially in this current climate where anti-trans rhetoric is at an all-time high. It remains to be seen how this case will end up impacting trans rights in California, and in the US as a whole.
-Eric Gonzalez Jimenez
Sources:
Can public schools legally 'out' trans students to their parents? Experts weigh in (msn.com)
California is suing to stop schools from outing trans kids to their parents (msn.com)
2 comments:
I find it somewhat disturbing that many of these conservative parents care so much about knowing whether or not their kids are LGBTQ+, yet never seem to question why their kids don't feel safe enough to tell them in the first place. I recently read that around 29% of LGBTQ+ people have experienced abuse from their family, which seems like a pretty significant number to me. By requiring schools to inform families if their children are LGBTQ+, I imagine that this will either lead to an increase in abuse for many of these children, or will force them to hide their identities at school instead of just at home. It seem like both of these outcomes will likely have a negative impact on the mental health of these children, many of whom are already struggling. I hope that the State of California will win this lawsuit. Otherwise, I imagine this issue may set a troubling precedent regarding the scope of government powers when it comes to privacy and individual freedoms-something that has been a concern in the US since its creation.
https://galop.org.uk/resource/lgbt-experiences-of-abuse-from-family-members/
Update: The State Attorney has managed to get a temporary court order, which means that the policy in Chino Valley District will be blocked. This is only for that district however, other districts that impose this kind of policy will not be affected. The court date has been scheduled for Oct. 13. We don't know how this will turn out, but there at least has been some action taken.
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