The traditional role of parents has been seized by the government in the Golden State.
Author: Larry Sand
On July 15, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 1955 into state law. This deplorable legislation bars school districts from requiring staff to notify parents if their child decides to change their gender. No other state in the country has passed such a drastic law. In fact, according to the Movement Advancement Project, eight states have already passed laws requiring school districts to inform parents if their children ask to use names or pronouns associated with another gender.
The haughtily titled “Support Academic Futures and Educators for Today’s Youth (SAFETY) Act,” specifically forbids schools from adopting any policies that force them to disclose “any information related to a pupil’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to any other person without the pupil’s consent.”
In the past, these matters were handled on the local level, but not anymore. Chino Valley Unified, Murrieta Valley Unified, Temecula Valley Unified, Orange Unified, Anderson Union High School District, Rocklin Unified, and Dry Creek Joint Elementary School District were among the school districts that had passed parental notification policies.
The law is atrocious on so many levels. As mandated reporters, teachers are required to notify the authorities of any suspected child abuse. But this law assumes that the parents of some six million children are abusers, and the state needs to protect their kids from them. AB 1955 replaces parents with school counselors, teachers, and mental health providers.
Jonathan Keller, president of the California Family Council, summed up the new law, saying, “By allowing schools to withhold vital information from mothers and fathers, this bill undermines their fundamental role and places boys and girls in potential jeopardy. Moms and dads have both a constitutional and divine mandate to guide and protect their kids, and AB 1955 egregiously violates this sacred trust.”
Thankfully, legal action has been filed opposing the new law. On behalf of the Chino Valley School District, the Liberty Justice Center filed a lawsuit on July 16 challenging the newly enacted legislation. Emily Rae, Senior Counsel at the Liberty Justice Center, explains, “PK-12 minor students, most of whom are too young to drive, vote, or provide medical consent for themselves, are also too young to make life-altering decisions about their expressed gender identity without their parents’ knowledge. But that is precisely what AB 1955 enables—with potentially devastating consequences for children too young to fully comprehend them.”
Rae adds, “School officials do not have the right to keep secrets from parents, but parents do have a constitutional right to know what their minor children are doing at school. Parents are the legal guardians of their children, not Governor Newsom, Attorney General Bonta, or Superintendent Thurmond. We will continue to defend parents’ rights and children’s well-being by challenging invasive laws like AB 1955 in court, at no cost to taxpayers.”
Predictably, Gov. Newsom pooh-poohed the lawsuit.
To continue reading, go to https://www.forkidsandcountry.org/blog/the-sandstorm-california-adopts-six-million-children
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