Federal Judge Strikes Down California’s Policies Hiding Gender Switches From Parents

The permanent injunction includes language that bars any employee in California’s education system from ’misleading the parent.’

By Zachary Stieber The Epoch Times

A federal judge on Dec. 22 ruled against California policies that prevent parents from learning when their children switch genders.

Judge Roger T. Benitez of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California entered a permanent injunction that bars officials from enforcing the policies.

“The State’s desire to protect vulnerable children from harassment and discrimination is laudable,” Benitez wrote in a 52-page decision.

But, he said, “the parental exclusion policies create a trifecta of harm: they harm the child who needs parental guidance and possibly mental health intervention to determine if the incongruence is organic or whether it is the result of bullying, peer pressure, or a fleeting impulse.”

“[The policies] harm the parents by depriving them of the long-recognized Fourteenth Amendment right to care, guide, and make health care decisions for their children, and by substantially burdening many parents’ First Amendment right to train their children in their sincerely held religious beliefs,” Benitez wrote.

“And finally, they harm teachers who are compelled to violate the sincerely held beliefs and the parent’s rights by forcing them to conceal information they feel is critical for the welfare of their students.”

Among the policies are rules prohibiting teachers from telling parents when their children begin going by a different name and gender and forcing teachers to use those new names and pronouns when parents are not around.

Lawyers for the state said the policies were part of providing a safe learning environment and making sure that children “can learn without fear of being outed to their parents before they are ready.”

That interest is too broad and not narrowly tailored to respect parental rights, the judge said.

“In articulating their interest, the State Defendants completely ignore the fact that parents of students possess a free exercise right to direct a child’s religious teaching,” he said.

The permanent injunction includes language that bars any employee in California’s education system from “misleading the parent or guardian of a minor child in the education system about their child’s gender presentation at school, whether by: (i) directly lying to the parent; (ii) preventing the parent from accessing educational records of the child; or (iii) using a different set of preferred pronouns/names when speaking with the parents than is being used at school.”

Attorneys for the Thomas More Society, who are representing teachers in the case, celebrated the ruling.

“The Court’s comprehensive ruling—granting summary judgment on all claims—protects all California parents, students, and teachers, and it restores sanity and common sense,” Paul Jonna, special counsel at the society, said in a statement.

“With this decisive ruling from Judge Benitez, all state and local school officials that mandate gender secrecy policies should cease all enforcement or face severe legal consequences.”

The office of California Attorney General Rob Bonta has filed an application to stay the injunction.

“We believe that the district court misapplied the law and that the decision will ultimately be reversed on appeal,” it said in a statement. “We are committed to securing school environments that allow transgender students to safely participate as their authentic selves while recognizing the important role that parents play in students’ lives.”

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