Dem kills GOP bill that would force California schools to tell parents if students identify as trans

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (TND) — Democrats in the California State legislature have used their power to squash a bill being pushed by Republicans which would force school officials to notify parents if their child begins identifying as transgender.

Assembly Bill 1314,co-authored by Republican Assemblymen Bill Essayli and James Gallagher, was referred to the General Assembly'sEducation Committee last month. However, the chair of the committee, Democratic Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, announced Monday he would not be setting a hearing date for the matter, essentially stopping the bill in its tracks.

All students deserve to be respected and supported for who they are, including at their schools," Muratsuchi said in a press release Monday. "This bill would require educators to 'out' a student to their parents, even when the student does not feel comfortable coming out, potentially forcing them into an unwelcoming or abusive home.

As a parent, I believe that gender identity conversations between parents and their children should occur in a safe and private space,"Muratsuchi added. "As Chair of the Education Committee, I will not be setting AB 1314 for a hearing, not only because the bill is proposing bad policy, but also because a hearing would potentially provide a forum for increasingly hateful rhetoric targeting LGBTQ youth."

AB 1314 would give school officials in the state 72 hours to notify a student's parents in writing that their child is identifying with a gender different than the one listed on their birth certificate.

We're not 'outing anyone,"Essayli told KTTV during an interview, in response to Democratic criticisms of the bill. "This is a student who's made the decision to transition at school, so they're changing their name, they're using different facilities, and schools right now are keeping that secret from parents by district policy."

Currently, under California law, teachers are prohibited from sharing a student's gender identity, or non-conforming status, with their parents without that student's express permission. Those who disagree with AB 1314 also insist it is a violation of federal law to do so, even though legal experts have argued that is not the case.

Sarah Perry, a legal fellow for the Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation, told TND that the Supreme Court has recognized for years that parents have a right to control the upbringing of their children as they see fit.

Whether you call it gender identity or gender dysphoria, [parents] have to have a right to be able to say 'This is not the job of the school counselor, school psychologist, assistant principal or anybody else, it's the job of the parents to actually make the determination on the health, safety and welfare of their children,'" Perry said.

Essayli, who agrees with Perry that parents have a Constitutional right to direct the upbringing of their kids, added in his interview with KTTV that "never" in the history of American jurisprudence has it been determined that kids have a privacy interest from their parents.

Essayli also spoke to the criticism that the bill would strip schools from being able to be a safe haven for students, something that critics insist the home frequently is not for LGBTQ youth.

It's wrong for the government to presume that parents and families are not a safe haven for their kids," Essayli told KTTV. "I agree, there's probably a limited number of circumstances where the home might be a dangerous place but we have mandatory reporting, we have child welfare services, we have all kinds of systems in place that are designed to protect minors at home. But the default position of the government cannot be that the home is not safe and therefore no parent can know what's going on with their kids."

TND reached out toAssemblyman Muratsuchi's office, but office staff simply directed TND to the press release put out on Monday.

If any additional comments are received fromMuratsuchi or his office, this story will be updated.