A judge in California on Wednesday issued a temporary restraining order on the Chino Valley Unified School District’s recently adopted policy that requires schools to inform parents about student gender transitions.
San Bernardino Superior Court Judge Tom Garza granted the temporary order amid an ongoing civil rights lawsuit filed last month by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who claimed the district’s “forced outing policy” discriminates against the privacy rights of LGBTQ+ students and the California Constitution.
Bonta praised the judge’s decision, saying the order rightfully upholds the state rights of “our LGBTQ+ student community and protects kids from harm by immediately halting the board’s forced outing policy.”
“While this fight is far from over, today’s ruling takes a significant step towards ensuring the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of transgender and gender-nonconforming students,” Bonta said in a news release after Wednesday’s hearing.
Chino Valley Unified School District, which represents over 26,000 students in San Bernardino County, passed a policy in July that requires teachers to inform parents within three days if their child uses names and pronouns different from their birth certificate or requests to use school facilities or join sports team opposite of their gender.
Sonja Shaw, president of the Chino Valley Unified board of education, told The Associated Press the judge’s ruling was disappointing and that there is “obviously an issue and parents are concerned.”
“I don’t understand why they are so gung ho on this issue, but everything else we have to inform the parents about,” Shaw said.
Shaw, who became a local advocate for parental rights amid the state’s pandemic response, reportedly said that state investigators subpoenaed her emails and text messages.
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“[Bonta’s] automatically trying to assume parents are dangerous, and I think that’s a dangerous, dangerous direction that they’re heading in,” Shaw told Fox News. “And you see it all over California. They’re trying to push out parents, and I think that is something that we need to stand up for right now.”
The policy has reportedly influenced other school districts to adopt similar rules, including Anderson Union High School District in Shasta County and Orange Unified School District in Orange County.
District officials and supporters of the policy said parents have a right to know about decisions their children make during school hours.
Chino Valley Unified attorney Anthony De Marco reportedly argued the policy would not impact private conversations held between students and teachers, but would instead help parents be more involved in their children’s choices involving radical gender theory.
“We need those parents to be part of a successful transition,” De Marco said.
California has become a leading state in the nation, promoting several new radical gender theory-related laws expected to gain momentum in the coming weeks, including undermining parental authority, requiring state-controlled curriculum, and targeting local school boards.
The movement has sparked pushback from parents, school boards, and lawmakers statewide to condemn such policies.