California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against Chino Valley's conservative-leaning school board over its policy that requires parents to be notified if their child openly identifies as transgender.
Bonta labeled the notification rules as a “forced outing policy," which is activated if a child requests to identify with a gender different than what is on their birth certificate or asks to use a different bathroom. Staff must tell parents in writing within three days if a student falls under either of those categories.
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“The forced outing policy wrongfully endangers the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of non-conforming students who lack an accepting environment in the classroom and at home,” Bonta said in a press release. “Our message to Chino Valley Unified and all school districts in California is loud and clear: We will never stop fighting for the civil rights of LGBTQ+ students.”
The board passed the rule in a 4-1 vote last month, where hundreds gathered in protest of the measure. Sonja Shaw, Chino Valley Unified Board president and a parent, has said the rule is intended to protect parental rights.
“We will stand our ground and protect our children with all we can because we are not breaking the law,” Shaw told the Los Angeles Times following Bonta’s lawsuit announcement. “Parents have a constitutional right in the upbringing of their children, period. Bring it.”
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Bonta says the rule discriminates against students under the state’s equal protection clause. The lawsuit also outlines how the policy violates the California government code, which ensures equal rights and opportunities for every student and prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity and gender expression.
California Democrats have been fighting against Republican-led school boards in the blue state that have attempted to pass similar transgender policies and LGBT restrictions. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) stepped into a debate with a Temecula school board this year that sought to ban textbook materials that referenced LGBT advocate and San Francisco politician Harvey Milk. The Temecula Valley Unified School District reversed its decision to ban the materials after Newsom threatened to issue fines. Last week, the Temecula school board voted to adopt the same gender identity disclosure policy as Chino Valley.