SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) — California Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday signed a controversial “forced outing” bill into law, legislation that supporters say is essential to protect LGBTQ youth.
Assembly Bill 1955 — written by Assemblymember Chris Ward, a San Diego Democrat and member of the LGBTQ caucus — has three main components. It restricts school employees from revealing details about a student’s sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression without that student’s consent. It prohibits school districts from making policies that require such disclosure. And it bars school districts from punishing employees who support a student’s rights.
“Politically motivated attacks on the rights, safety, and dignity of transgender, nonbinary, and other LGBTQ+ youth are on the rise nationwide, including in California,” Ward said in a statement. “While some school districts have adopted policies to forcibly out students, the (Support Academic Futures & Educators for Today’s Youth) Act ensures that discussions about gender identity remain a private matter within the family.”
The bill has remained controversial throughout its journey in the Legislature. Supporters have said LGBTQ youth need protection. One Assembly member emotionally described how his mother told him, at age 7, that she’d disown him if he was gay.
Opponents have slammed the bill, arguing it was rooted in disinformation about local school district policies. They’ve said it would make keeping secrets from parents into law.
“With 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,” state Senator and LGBTQ caucus chair Susan Eggman, a Stockton Democrat, said in a statement. “I am also deeply grateful for all the parents, teachers, youth, LGBTQ+ leaders, and so many other groups who came together to support this bill. Their support reaffirmed what this caucus already knew: Safe and supportive schools for all our children should be our top priority.”
Ward in a statement said that over a dozen school districts have proposed or created policies that force teachers to tell parents if a student identifies as transgender or asks to use a different name or pronouns at school.
According to a bill analysis, LGBTQ students feel less safe at school. A 2023 survey of LGBTQ youth showed that 46% of 13- to 17-year-olds considered suicide in the previous year, and that 17% attempted suicide. Almost one in three youth said their mental health suffered most or all of the time because of anti-LGBTQ policies and laws. And 60% of youth in the study said they felt discrimination because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Opponents of the bill fought against its passage as it wound through the Legislature. Public comment regularly involved speakers urging various committees to vote down the legislation.
In fact, when it returned to the Assembly for a final vote after having passed the state Senate, that chamber turned chaotic. A parliamentary struggle between Assemblymember Bill Essayli, a Corona Republican, and Speaker Pro Tempore Jim Wood, a Healdsburg Democrat, led to a lengthy recess. The political temperature had dropped when the Assembly resumed work, though opposition still existed.
Assemblymember and Minority Leader James Gallagher, of Yuba City, said during the debate that the bill made a default — teachers are safe and parents are not.
“Parents are not the enemy — they are critical to a child’s growth and wellbeing, and they have a constitutional right to be involved in their education,” Gallagher said in a statement to Courthouse News. “This new law says loud and clear that Newsom thinks politicians and school administrators trump parents when it comes to what’s best for kids. He is wrong.”
Sonja Shaw, a board member of the Chino Valley Unified School District — which was sued by the state over its parental notification policy — called the new law an “egregious attack” on parents rights.
“This legislation weaponizes the system against those who know and care for their children the most,” Shaw said in a statement to Courthouse News. “It is morally corrupt and was enacted to prevent parents from exercising their rights and to avoid being outsmarted by a school district and parents who challenged them. It’s always been about their ego.”
Newsom on Monday signed dozens of bills and vetoed two. One of those vetoed was Assembly Bill 2570, written by Assemblymember Joe Patterson, a Rocklin Republican.
The bill would have required the state Department of Housing and Community Development to perform an evaluation each year on the homeless housing, assistance and prevention program.
The state auditor in April released a report that stated California hadn’t properly tracked and evaluated its homelessness programs, to which some $24 billion has been funneled to over the past five years.
“Earlier this year, I directed California’s Housing Accountability Unit to increase its oversight and enforcement of existing housing laws to address homelessness,” Newsom said in a veto statement. “This bill is redundant to these efforts and creates an unnecessary ongoing workload for the department without providing additional accountability or transparency to taxpayers.”
Patterson lamented the governor’s veto in a statement.
“This was a bipartisan bill with no opposition,” he said. “Clearly the Legislature agreed on the need to rein in Newsom’s wasteful spending on ineffective homelessness programs. I’m glad we were able to get some safeguards written into the budget, but the state can’t keep cutting corners on accountability when dishing out billions of taxpayer dollars and seeing the problem get worse.”
If you are having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988, or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK). Visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional resources.