Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation Monday that will make California the first U.S. state to stop school districts from notifying parents if their child starts using different pronouns or identifies as a different gender than what’s on their school record.
The governor’s office announced his signing of AB 1955 without comment among dozens of other bills signed and two which he vetoed.
But California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus Chair Susan Eggman said Monday, “Today is a great day for California.”
“The Governor’s signature on AB 1955, a first in the nation policy, reaffirms California’s position as a leader and safe haven for LGBTQ+ youth everywhere,” Eggman said.
The bill makes California the first state to explicitly prohibit what critics called “forced outing” policies that some school districts adopted requiring they notify parents when students request to use a different name or pronoun than what’s on their birth certificate or school records — regardless of the student’s consent.
Critics decried the law as an infringement of parents’ rights.
“To our governor & the CA LGBTQ Caucus: you don’t have the authority to strip parents of their rights,” Gays Against Groomers California, which opposed the law, posted Monday on X.
According to the Movement Advancement Project, a nonprofit think tank and equality advocate, there are currently eight states — Idaho, North Dakota, Iowa, Indiana, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama — that have passed laws requiring school staff to forcibly “out” transgender students. Five other states — Montana, Utah, Arizona, Kentucky and Florida — have passed legislation promoting forced outing policies in schools.
In January, California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a legal alert to all California school districts warning them against such policies, which he said violate the California Constitution and state laws safeguarding students’ civil rights.
Assembly member Chris Ward introduced AB 1955 — the “SAFETY Act” — at the beginning of this year. It prohibits school districts from implementing policies requiring teachers to disclose any information on a student’s gender identity, sexual orientation or gender expression to their parent or guardian without that student’s permission.
“While some school districts have adopted policies to forcibly out students, the SAFETY Act ensures that discussions about gender identity remain a private matter within the family,” Ward said in a statement Monday.
The bill will also provide additional resources for parents and students to discuss gender and identity and will protect teachers and school staff from retaliation for refusing to share a student’s gender and identity.
Legislators sent bill AB 1955 to Newsom earlier this month after an intense, emotional hearing in the Assembly that saw several members lose their cool over the proposed bill.
The bill has a range of supporters and opponents. Notable supporters include State Superintendent of Instruction Tony Thurmond, the LGBTQ+ advocacy nonprofit The Trevor Project, the California School Employees Association and the California Teachers Association.
“This historic legislation will strengthen existing protections against forced outing and allow educators to continue to create a safe learning environment where all students feel accepted, nurtured, and encouraged to pursue their dreams,” CTA President David Goldberg said.
But opponents include Moms for Liberty Santa Clara County, Chino Valley Unified School District — which Bonta sued last year over its notification policies — and 16 Republican assembly members, including Bill Essayli (R-Corona), who proposed a bill last year that would have done the opposite of the SAFETY Act and required schools to notify parents if their child identifies as transgender.
Following Ward’s announcement of the bill earlier this year, the Liberty Justice Center — which represented Chino Valley Unified School District in the Attorney General’s lawsuit — issued a statement condemning the bill.
“Parents have a right to know what their own minor children are doing at school — and school officials have no right to keep secrets from parents,” the center’s president, Jacob Huebert said in the statement. “That’s true now, and it will still be true if the state passes this bill. We will continue to stand with parents and the school districts that want to respect their rights — and we’ll continue to represent them free of charge, at no cost to taxpayers.”
In the Bay Area, the bill won’t have much of an impact. San Francisco Unified School District already has a policy in place that prohibits teachers and school staff from disclosing a student’s gender or sexual identity without the student’s written consent.
But across California, several school boards have discussed or voted on policies that would require schools to disclose students’ gender identity to their parents or guardians, regardless of the student’s consent.
Along with Chino Valley Unified School District in San Bernardino County, Rocklin Unified School District in Placer County also faced backlash from the state over its parental notification policy, which passed in 2023.
Temecula Valley Unified, Murrieta Valley Unified, Anderson Union High School District and Orange Unified School District all passed similar policies as well.
