(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a lawsuit against the Chino Valley Unified School District over a rule requiring school faculty and staff to alert parents if their child changed gender identity or pronouns.
Bonta argued that the rule violated student’s rights, along with civil rights and privacy laws, according to the Daily Mail.
He also claimed that parents involvement in their children’s lives puts transgender and gender-nonconforming students in “danger of imminent, irreparable harm.”
“These students are currently under threat of being outed to their parents against their will, and many fear that the District’s policy will force them to make a choice: either ‘walk back’ their constitutionally and statutorily protected rights to gender identity and gender expression, or face the risk of emotional, physical, and psychological harm,” the press release announcing the suit read.
“The Board’s policy thus unlawfully discriminates against transgender and gender nonbinary students, subjecting them to disparate treatment and harassment, including mental, emotional, and even physical abuse,” the statement claimed.
Several members of the local community protested the rule when it was first decided by the district school board.
The rule closely followed a power shift within the school board, which represented more than 26,000 students in Southern California.
Surrounding districts implemented similar parental notification policies. Bonta stated that they will likely renege on their ruling if the state’s lawsuit against Chino Valley Unified succeeds.
Under the current policy, Chino Valley schools must notify parents within three days of becoming aware of a student changing their pronouns, whether colloquially or on official school records.
Parents also received a notification if their child requested to use different bathrooms, play on different sports teams or other sex-segregated activities.
Chino Valley United Board President, Sonja Shaw, who recently took power, said they anticipated the lawsuit and these are not the first steps the state government took.
“We will stand our ground and protect our children with all we can because we are not breaking the law,’ Shaw said. “Parents have a constitutional right in the upbringing of their children. Period.”
