The California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus announces legislation at a press conference on Wednesday, May 22, 2024, to ban school districts from forcing schools to notify parents if their child requests to change their gender identification in Sacramento, Calif. The California Senate has approved a bill, Thursday, June 13, that would ban school districts from forcing teachers to notify parents if their child asks to go by a new pronoun at school.
Lawmakers approved the legislation along party lines after more than an hour of an emotional debate in which LGBTQ+ senators recounted stories about how they delayed coming out to their parents or were outed by someone else. They argued gender-noncomforming students should be able to come out to their families on their own terms.
California officials shouldn’t prevent all parents being from notified because of the possibility that some parents may react badly, said Greg Burt, vice president of the California Family Council, a conservative Christian advocacy group.The bill now heads to the state Assembly, where it would need to pass in committees and on the floor before it can reach the desk of Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose administration has fought school boards over the notification policies.
State Sen. Caroline Menjivar, who is lesbian, said on the Senate floor Thursday that she was outed to her mother when Menjivar was 16 years old.