California’s Attorney General warned school districts across the state that policies requiring employees to inform their parents about transgender students violate the state constitution.
Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a legal alert Thursday saying policies adopted by several Golden State school districts are unconstitutional and “harmful” to the privacy, safety and well-being of transgender and gender nonconforming students.
“We know what the data tells us: that 15% of transgender and gender non-conforming youth are kicked out of their homes,” Attorney General Rob Bonta told KCAL last week after the warning was issued on Thursday.
“Another 10% suffer physical harm from members of their immediate family,” he added.
Bonta’s warning came amid an ongoing battle between the attorney general and the Chino Valley School District, which issued the policy in July after a 4-1 school board vote.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has argued that the mandate puts the lives of trans students at risk. AP
The policy requires that staff members must notify parents if their children request to use a different name or pronoun; if they ask to use the bathroom or participate in activities not aligned with their birth gender.
The Chino Valley district requires that students be informed even if they have not given staff permission to release the information.
Bonta has insisted that the policy discriminates against trans students and puts them in danger.
Chino Valley School Board President Sonja Shaw, a strong supporter of the bill, accused the attorney general of being “obsessed with power.”
Chino Valley School Board President Sonja Shaw has characterized the mandate as a defense of parents’ rights. AP
“He’s showing that he wants to be a father to our children and he’s not doing his real job, which is keeping California safe,” Shaw told KCAL. “What is he doing to keep them safe on campus by keeping parents out? “It makes absolutely no sense.”
In its warning last week, Bonta’s office said the exit policies “target transgender and gender nonconforming students,” before highlighting three separate ways they violated the constitution’s Equal Protection Clause. of California, according to the Sacramento Bee.
“Because gender identity is an aspect of gender, transgender and gender nonconforming individuals constitute a protected class under California’s equal protection clause,” the notice said.
The mandate led to an intense board of education meeting in July and outrage on both sides of the debate ever since. AP
Other violations included prohibitions against gender discrimination, noting how “forced departure policies target one group, and ‘that group alone’ for discriminatory treatment,” along with violations of students’ right to privacy.
“In short, by singling out transgender and gender nonconforming students for different and adverse treatment that puts them at risk of harm, forced disclosure policies violate their constitutional right to equal protection and privacy, as well as as your legal protection against discrimination under California law. ”the warning said.
Bonto’s office previously sued the school district to block the policy in August, which it called “hateful,” citing a fiery July 20 Board of Education hearing in which trans students were described as “perverse” and with “mental diseases”.
Shaw has doubled down on the policy, characterizing it as a battle for parental rights against invasive liberal politicians who want to strip them away.
“The political cartel has continued to show its cards and I think we just have to defend our constitutional rights and make sure we protect our children together,” he said Thursday.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn