California School District Considers Outing Transgender Students to Parents
Newsweek, "This policy is meant to foster trust between district employees, and our students' parents and guardians. I stand for the authority of parents to guide the upbringing of their children and their involvement in decisions related to their education, health, safety, and wellbeing."Schools should never keep secrets from parents, nor put teachers in a position where they have to lie to them," the statement added.The proposal in the Chino Valley Unified School District comes amid ongoing criticism of transgender people and attacks against companies who have supported the LGBTQ+ community by conservatives.
Several companies such as Bud Light, Target and Kohl's have faced conservative boycotts due to LGBTQ+ items being sold during Pride Month, which began on June 1.Additionally, several states have introduced legislation that seeks to ban transgender surgery for children.
In May, Missouri passed legislation that bans gender-affirming surgery and other medical care such as hormone blockers for children in the state.While the Chino Valley Unified School District Board President said they stand by the proposal, it goes against guidance from the California Department of Education.On the California Department of Education website, there is a FAQ page for Assembly Bill 1266 which states that teachers in the state should not out a transgender student to their parents."Revealing a student's gender identity or expression to others may compromise the student's safety.
Thus, preserving a student's privacy is of the utmost importance," the FAQ page says. "The right of transgender students to keep their transgender status private is grounded in California's antidiscrimination laws as well as federal and state laws.
