California's legislature has taken major steps to institutionalize hiding child transgender identity from parents in a slate of bills headed to Gov. Gavin Newsom's (D-CA) desk.
One or both houses of the Golden State legislature have overwhelmingly passed five separate bills aimed at both hiding childhood proclamations of transgender identity from parents and punishing them for not "affirming" the child through social and medical interventions.
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"Is it the role of parents to affirm children? Or is it their role to guide and shape them into becoming good, honest, and healthy people? Since when do children know what’s best for them?" American Principles Project President Terry Schilling told the Washington Examiner. "Parents are to affirm their children when they are right and correct them when they are wrong. If your son claims to be a girl, your job as a parent is to correct them, not affirm them in this delusion anymore than affirming an underweight anorexic child is obese."
Four out of five bills have sailed through both legislative chambers and are making their way to the governor's mansion for signature, while one passed the Senate but awaits approval at the State Assembly.
Child abuse
The most recent bill, AB-957, which passed the lower chamber 51-13 in March and the upper chamber 57-16 on Friday, deems it "child abuse" to disagree with a child's stated gender identity.
Moreover, a parent in California could lose custody of their child if they do not "affirm," as judges will be required to consider a parent's level of commitment to the child's gender transition as part of the overall assessment of the "health, safety, and welfare of the child."
"Parents affirm their children. Typically it happens when their gender identity matches their biological gender," state Rep. Lori Wilson said. "But when it doesn't, the affirmation starts to wane. ... Our duty as parents is to affirm our children."
If the bill is signed into law, a parent who disagrees with their child seeking social transitioning or gender transition procedures, such as puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and removing their genitalia, could lose custody of the child and face child abuse charges.
"Parents are caught in a terrible predicament as they are told their children will commit suicide unless they support gender transition. This is false and is now being propagated by the state of California," Do No Harm Chairman Dr. Stanley Goldfarb told the Washington Examiner. "Instead of providing emotional and psychological support for these troubled children and these desperate parents, the state is putting them in legal jeopardy and risking further alienation from their children. It's hard to believe this is happening in America."
Doctors in loco parentis
AB-655, which passed the Senate 31-8 on Wednesday and the House 60-16 on Thursday, allows minors to consent to "mental health services" without their parents' knowledge or consent.
Because children "express significant trepidation about needing to disclose to parents their mental health concerns and their need to access services," the measure states, the bill allows doctors to make a determination that a child can seek transition regardless of a parent's wishes.
A mental health provider might "find that obtaining parental consent for a youth who needs support is complicated by the parent or caretakers’ beliefs and stigma about mental health care," the bill continues, adding that the normal process might include parents "unless the professional person who is treating or counseling the minor, after consultation with the minor, determines that the involvement would be inappropriate."
"The suite of laws proposed in California in the name of protecting children is much more likely to harm them," Goldfarb said. "The proposed laws are based on a speculation that children who are confused about their gender will benefit from social transitions, puberty blockers and hormones, and even surgery to ameliorate their psychological problems. In fact, this speculation is completely wrong and likely to produce terrible harm to these young people."
The medical intervention model of "gender-affirming care," which these bills go a long way in codifying a right to for otherwise nonconsenting minors, has come under heavy scrutiny in most of the Western world for its lack of scientific basis, experimental nature, and danger to the patients.
Training teachers to target parents
The Safe and Supportive Schools Act, which passed the lower chamber 64-4 in May and the upper chamber 32-2 on Thursday, requires school teachers to be trained to identify parents who may not agree with a child's stated gender identity.
The bill requires the creation of an online "training delivery platform" and curriculum in "cultural competency" in "support of LGBTQ+ youth."
Such training will include sections on "Identifying LGBTQ+ youth who are subject to, or may be at risk of, bullying and lack of acceptance at home or in their communities."
It is unclear what teachers or school districts might do with the information after a parent has been identified.
"The biggest threat to our children are the narcissists that have infiltrated our education system. Narcissists who think that, because they received a certification from somewhere, they know or even love our children more than we do as parents," Schilling said. "Imagine how much damage has already been done by these arrogant people? They shouldn’t be allowed within 500 feet of a school or Chuck E. Cheese, let alone having access to the minds and souls of our children."
California Attorney General Rob Bonta already filed a lawsuit against one school district for trying to inform parents if their children begin identifying with another gender at school.
Ensuring child access to sexually explicit books
One of the major complaints from parents across the country is the sexually explicit materials seen in books such as Maia Kobabe's Gender Queer: A Memoir or Jonathan Evison's Lawn Boy.
While some parents have attempted to limit children's access to these books for illustrated depictions of oral sex and pedophilia, California's AB-1078 would ensure childhood access to such materials in schools.
"Restricting access to classroom and library materials because they feature LGBTQ people or were written by LGBTQ authors discriminates against LGBTQ people and constitutes censorship in violation of California law and policy," the law states.
The bill would prohibit any school district from removing such materials because they "accurately portray the cultural and racial diversity of our society."
Foster parents
Parents who wish to adopt children in California would be required to align their beliefs with transgender ideology if SB-407, which has yet to pass the Assembly but passed the Senate 31-5 on Sept. 1, became law.
The law would require prospective foster parents to "demonstrate an ability and willingness to meet the needs of a child regardless of the child’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, and that, should difficulties around these issues arise, a willingness to obtain resources offered by the county or foster family agency or other available resources to meet those needs," the law states.
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A lawsuit against a similar law in Massachusetts, which has already barred two Catholic parents from the foster system because they would not theoretically pursue transgender medical intervention for a child, was filed last month.
Newsom's office did not return a request for comment from the Washington Examiner.