California group makes anti-trans push

More than 20 states have voted to limit the rights of trans students, and California could be next. A group called Protect Kids California recently protested against California’s failure to pass laws limiting trans rights and requiring schools to notify parents about their trans children.

For example, the California Legislature did not consider or pass Assembly Bill 1314, which would require schools to, in writing, inform parents about the students’ gender identity if they were found to be transgender or use different pronouns than the ones assigned at birth.

Protect Kids California asserts that parents have the right to know everything about their children ranging from their grades to their gender identity. They hope to enact their goals through initiatives, in which voters make state decisions directly. Currently, they are collecting signatures to qualify for a statewide ballot.

“Some will argue that this ‘outs’ the child in question. That’s utter nonsense, the child has already outed themselves by requesting that they go by another name. This is a simple notification from the school to the parent that their child has requested to do so,” stated Protect Kids California supporter Erin Friday. 

CVHS teachers are upset with these new initiatives.  

“Someone’s identity and how you identify is core to who you are. Not the government’s place to tell how they identify. I would not support these laws if they made it to the ballot,” said social studies teacher Kathleen Cassidy. “It puts teachers in a difficult spot. Scary for the kids and hard for me as a teacher to do that.” 

“There’s a reason if parents don’t know about [their kids’ gender identity]: their kids probably don’t feel safe talking about it,” said Amanda Staab, English teacher and Pride Club advisor. “So a law like this wouldn’t make kids feel more safe, it would make parents feel like they have more control.” 

Staab also voiced concern for the kids’ mental wellness: “LGBTQ youth are much more vunerable when it comes to mental health, suicide rate tends to be higher, so a intitaive like this seems like it would be more harmful for students in mental health.”

Of course, this affects LGBTQIA+ students the most, and students are equally, if not more, outraged than teachers are. 

“[This initiative] endangers the quality of life of not only trans students, but also their teachers,” commented senior and Pride Club president Gabriela Arechiga. “Identity is a form of expression and to take that right away from how someone chooses to express themselves is simply unconstitutional.”

“If teachers are suddenly required to out students to their parents it will not only create a lack of safety and trust between students and their teachers,” added senior and Pride Club member Nico Silva. “If a student does not wish to share information with their parents, due to safety concerns at home, then I believe teachers should respect the student’s decision in keeping their parents uninformed.”

This isn’t Protect Kids California’s only goal. The group also hopes to ban trans girls from sports, prevent kids under 18 from taking puberty blockers, and stop transgender surgeries.

Protect Kids California needs to collect about 500,000 signatures per proposal to reach the ballot in the upcoming 2024 election. Then it will be up to California’s voters.