Our Schools USA co-founder Kristi Hirst speaks at a press conference May 21 in Sacramento about the Safety Act, which would ban “forced outing” policies in California schools. She is flanked by the bill’s author, Assemblymember Chris Ward, left, and state Superintendent of Public School Tony Thurmond, right. Photo: Office of Assemblymember Chris Ward
“Forced outing” policies, also known as “parental notification” policies, are one step closer to being banned in California under a first-of-its-kind bill that passed the state Legislature.
The Assembly passed the Safety Act, AB 1955, on a 60-15 vote Thursday. The bill was sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom for his signature.
“The very personal decision for a student to come out should be on their own terms to whoever they choose to share that information with when they are ready. Teachers should not be the gender police,” Assemblyman Chris Ward (D-San Diego), the bill’s author, said on Instagram Thursday.
“The SAFETY Act simply ensures that conversations about gender identity happen at home without interference from anyone outside of the family unit,” he said. “As a parent myself, I encourage all parents to talk and listen to their children and love them unconditionally for who they are.”
The Safety Act, AB 1955, would do three things:
- Prohibit school districts from implementing forced outing policies
- Provide resources for parents and students to navigate conversations around gender and identity on their own terms
- Ensure teachers and school staff are not retaliated against for refusing to forcibly out a student
Since 2023, more than a dozen school districts, including several in Southern California, have proposed and/or passed policies requiring teachers to notify parents if their child identifies as transgender or asks to be identified by a different name or pronouns than the one listed on their birth certificate.
Murrieta Valley defies state order to rescind district’s outing policy
These “forced outing” policies put LGBTQ+ students at risk and harm their mental health. They also can lead to increased bullying, harassment, discrimination, among other issues, experts have said.
Attorney General Rob Bonta sued the Chino Valley Unified School District over its “forced outing” policy. In October, San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Michael A. Sachs temporarily blocked the policy from being implmemented as it makes its way through the courts.
However, some schools seem determined to continue endangering trans youth.
Inn April, a defiant conservative majority on the board of the Murrieta Valley Unified School District defied an order from the state to rescind its forced outing policy.
The extremist board members who supported the policy ignored a warning from the district’s law firm to board President Paul Diffley, who sponsored the outing rules.
The attorney warned that going ahead with the policy could cost the district $500,000 in legal expenses.
“Under California law, schools are required to support and affirm LGBTQ+ students, which includes addressing students by the name and pronouns that match their identity and respecting their decisions about coming out,” Becca Cramer-Mowder, legislative advocate at ACLU California Action, said at a press conference recently when Ward’s bill was introduced..
“By targeting transgender and nonbinary youth, forced outing policies violate state and federal anti-discrimination and privacy laws,” Cramer-Mowder said. “The Safety Act strengthens existing protections that ensure that all California students are safe and treated fairly at school.”
