Gov. Gavin Newsom sued by Southern California school district over new law on children's gender identity

A school district in Southern California is suing Gov. Gavin Newsom over the new state law that will prohibit public schools from being required to notify parents when their children change gender identities.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday by the Chino Valley Unified School District alleges that Assembly Bill 1955 — which Newsom signed into law Monday and will take effect Jan. 1 of next year — violates the constitutional rights of parents to due process and freedom of religion. It seeks a court judgment declaring that the new law is a violation of parents' rights under the Fourteenth and First Amendments and an order that would temporarily stop the state government from enforcing the law.

Along with the school district in Chino, the lawsuit also lists seven parents in the Southern California region and one parent in Northern California as plaintiffs, describing each of them as a "devout Christian who believes God created man and woman as distinct, immutable genders." The plaintiffs are receiving legal representation from The Liberty Justice Center, a nonprofit that describes itself as committed to fighting "government overreach" among other civil rights issues.

The defendants listed include Newsom, Attorney General Robert Bonta, and California State Superintendent Tony Thurmond.

In court filings, the plaintiffs argue that schools would typically notify parents of other "significant events that impact their children at school — such as when they are injured, bullied, or express a desire to self-harm..." But AB 1955 makes unprecedented exceptions to this practice, they argue, saying these usual policies ensure school districts "do not betray the extraordinary trust" given to them by parents.

"If a student is bullied or involved in a verbal or physical fight, the school will tell the parents. If a student expresses a desire to hurt or kill themself, the school will tell the parents," the lawsuit states. "So, too, must a school tell parents if a student has asked the school to participate in that student's gender transition."

In response, Newsom's office said the lawsuit does not have a legal basis and that underage children in the state of California still cannot legally change their name or gender without parental consent.

Izzy Gardon, director of communications for the governor's office, said in a written statement that parents "continue to have guaranteed and full access to their student's educational records consistent with federal law." Gardon said the new law does not allow teachers and school districts to hide information from parents, but rather, they cannot not be forced to disclose a student's gender identity to parents without a request for records and without the student's explicit consent.

"This is a deeply unserious lawsuit, seemingly designed to stoke the dumpster fire formerly known as Twitter rather than surface legitimate legal claims," Gardon wrote. "We're confident the state will swiftly prevail in this case."  

Meanwhile, the lawsuit alleges that parents' rights to freedom of religion under the First Amendment are violated. The individual parents listed as plaintiffs have children enrolled in schools in Temecula in Riverside County, Chino in San Bernardino County and the city of Orange in Orange County. One of the parents has children enrolled in two school districts in Northern California's Shasta County. 

"Each of the Parent Plaintiffs objects on both conscience and religious grounds to their public schools withholding information about changes to their child's gender identity from them and seek declaratory and injunctive relief preventing AB 1955 from being enforced against their child or children," the court filings state.

The lawsuit also uses the example of medical providers needing parental consent to legally treat underage children as an analogy to teachers being required to disclose a student's gender identity to their parents.

"This is because children and adolescents lack the 'skills for future thinking, planning, big picture thinking, and self-reflection' that are necessary for informed decision-making," the lawsuit states.

AB 1955 states that it seeks to protect children on choosing when and how to "come out," describing such moves as "deeply personal decisions." The new law also requires the state's Department of Education to give parents and children resources on how to "manage conversations about gender and identity privately."  

The law has drawn some controversy, with Elon Musk even announcing plans to move SpaceX and the social platform, X, formerly known as Twitter, out of the state in response. 

Meanwhile, California Democrats have defended the law as protecting the safety of children in the state.