2y ago

California sues Chino school district, aiming to end policy notifying parents of student gender changes

www.latimes.com

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit Monday against the Chino school district, ordering an end to a policy that requires notifying parents if their children change their gender identity, alleging it is discriminatory and violates civil rights and privacy laws.

The “parental notification” policy, which has been proposed by a handful of conservative-leaning districts in California, puts transgender and gender-nonconforming students in “danger of imminent, irreparable harm” by potentially forcibly “outing” them at home before they’re ready, according to the lawsuit.

92 comments

We don't have time for school districts to be wasting with culture war bullshit anyway. This behavior must be penalized heavily. Petty tyrants can't just force everyone to to live the same way they do.
- How is telling the parents about children’s gender changes forcing e tone to live a specific way? Isn’t it letting families choose how they want to live by sharing information?
  I totally do get and agree with the arguments that some kids in a bad spot could be harmed by their parents. I just dislike these weird dishonest arguments. In no way does telling the families about their children’s choices force everyone to live the same way. That’s just incorrect and actually weakens your point of view because you’re making your side look dumb and irrational.
  
  In no way does telling the families about their children’s choices force everyone to live the same way.
  It forces students with abusive bigot parents to hide who they are in all cases, not just at home.
  
  Because kids get kicked out of their homes for being trans. Yes; even now, regularly, and yes; even in blue states.
  
  How would it let them live how they want to? How is forcibly sharing information allowing the family a choice? My brother is bi. Would forcibly outing him to our parents allow us a choice or does it deny one to my brother?
  
  What business is it of the school to be reporting something like this? It’s none of their business. The only thing a school should be reporting is poor academic performance or inappropriate behavior, and a child’s gender identity is neither one of those things. They question is where do you draw the line if not here? There’s been legislature put forward in some state(s) that says a young women should disclose when she is menstrating and how long ago her last one was… let’s nip this is the bud and draw the line right here, because all this is is a school snitching on transgender kids in hopes that the parents take action against them whether that is emotional, physical or both.
  
  How is telling the parents about children’s gender changes forcing e tone to live a specific way?
  You heavily underestimate the amount of parents that would beat their kids near to death over this
  
  Children get beat, kicked out of their homes, and worse by parents for simpler things.
  Is that what you want? Do you want a child to die because their abusive parents found out something the child was hiding, because they didn't want to die?
  
  It's potentially giving abusive parents ammo to withhold gender affirming care such as social transitioning, which is proven to reduce suicide rates in trans kids and teens. Parents forcing their kids to stop socially transitioning in school can be traumatic, and cause long term emotional damage, and it can even result in children being kicked out of their homes as a result in some cases. It's taking away a space where they feel safe to express themselves against their will. Even for kids where they won't experience a worst case scenario, there's no reason to tell a kid's parent that they're presenting as a different gender at school instead of letting them make that choice for themselves. Either the kid feels safe enough to tell their parents themselves, or they don't. And if they don't feel safe telling their parents then forcibly outing them is one of the cruelest things you can do to a child in that situation. Coming out to your family is an extremely personal thing and should only ever be up to the person to decide when and who to tell, not their school.
  
  In no way does telling the families about their children’s choices force everyone to live the same way. That’s just incorrect and actually weakens your point of view because you’re making your side look dumb and irrational.
  Except it's literally what they're doing - if a child doesn't feel comfortable being honest to their family about their gender identity you bet there is damn good reason, and forcing any authority to disclose this information without the child's consent is forcing them to live in a situation they've already concluded they could not survive.
  There is only one side here that is irrational, and it's the one advocating to harm children under the pretence of "concern" for them.
  
  Isn’t it letting families choose how they want to live by sharing information?
  No, it's forcing them to be outed. Let people choose how to live, and who to tell.
In principle, where should the line be drawn between local and state control in matters like this? On the one hand, I think notification policies are mean-spirited and likely to do real harm. On the other hand, they have the support of the majority in these school districts. If we say that the state ought to override local policy in cases like this, what will we say in cases where a conservative state government is seeking to impose its will on progressive communities (sanctuary cities in states that are cracking down on illegal immigrants, municipalities refusing to enforce drug laws, etc.)?
(The answer is probably "neither side has a principled stance regarding the balance of power between state and local governments so we might as well do everything we can to support specific policies we agree with rather than abstract principles" but IMO it would be nice if there were commonly-accepted principles about this sort of thing.)
- There was once a time where the majority was fine with segregation. The majority isn't always right, and where they shouldn't be given default control is imo when it affects the quality and safety of the lives of other people. We know for a fact that a policy like this will harm children, there are statistics to back it up.
  If a local government was trying to make it legal to lynch minorities, then I don't think there are many people who would argue that the state interfering would be a bad thing. This situation may not be quite as extreme, but it's definitely not harmless either. If the state is seeking to do more direct harm to people, then it's pretty obviously not a good thing. Unfortunately there are a lot of conservatives who just plain like harming people as long as those people don't look like them 😒
- The US is structured so that most of the legislation is (or was, anyway) done at the state level, as part of the whole "laboratory of democracy" thing, per the tenth amendment. The federal level is supposed to be pretty weak, mostly just coordinating between states and on international issues. So according to the design of the various levels of government, it's correct that the state can override cities. (And in turn, Congress can override the states, but wasn't supposed to happen that much.)
  Of course this hasn't really worked out in practice, with the federal government assuming more responsibilities. And I'm not saying any of this was a good or bad idea. But that's how it was designed.
Crazy. Schools are there to work for the parents, not hide things from them. If child abuse is suspected they are required to report it to police. If any teacher tried to hide something like this from me about my kid I'd report them for child abuse.
- No, schools work for the children, not the parents.
  
  reading posts like the one you’re replying to, and hearing the ways many conservatives talk about children, makes me think they don’t want kids so much as they want to be “parents”. it doesnt seem as though many of them like or respect their kids, so much as they view having kids as a necessary part of the atomic family and “good conservative living”. having kids is like having an F150, you’re just supposed to have them. and like trucks, it’s annoying when they have problems or when they don’t perfectly match the ideas parents had about what kids are “supposed to be”.
  i think this is why it’s so inconceivable for them that schools should work for the children. the mechanic works on the truck, but it doesn’t work for the truck.
  
  No, I pay the bill, not my kids. That goes for public schools or private schools.
- Why would your child be so terrified of you that they don't want to tell you their gender?
  
  They wouldn't. They know if anyone tries to tell them to keep a secret from Mom and Dad that person is bad person.
- Crazy. Schools are there to work for the parents, not hide things from them.
  If the child felt safe at home, their parents would likely already know.
  If child abuse is suspected they are required to report it to police.
  Firstly, the abuse could start after the parent's are notified, at which point it is too late. But secondly you and I both know that this is absolutely not how things actually shake out in the real world. Parents regularly get away with abusing their children, even more so when the abuse is not physical.
  If any teacher tried to hide something like this from me about my kid I’d report them for child abuse.
  Then I hope you face consequences for spurious reporting.
  (edit: apostrophe's!)
- Please explain to me how this specific instance of not outing a child is abuse.
- You know that the children in these situations will be abused before the situation can be investigated, right? That child abuse has to occur, before it can be reported? What will trigger the abuse is snitching on children. For what, wearing a dress? Painting their nails? Growing a mustache? Coming out to your family is an intensely personal thing that should always ALWAYS be the choice of the person coming out, ESPECIALLY if they are a child. Schools should put the KIDS first, the school isn't there for the parents, it's there for the kids, and if you think that violating the consent of trans kids is okay because "you can just report abuse!" as if that is always effective and can always be proven and will always result in the kids being saved, then you're naive at best and complicit at worst. Get the fuck over yourself. Your kid's sense of safety and consent and comfort should ALWAYS come first for you. The fact that it doesn't is fucking disgusting.

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