California’s public schools are now prohibited from forcibly outing queer students

This blog originally appeared at LGBTQ NATION.

“LGBTQ+ students across California can breathe a sigh of relief,” stated one LGBTQ+ organization, following the passage of this groundbreaking law.

California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) has signed a pioneering law banning forced outings in state public schools.

The SAFETY Act prohibits school district policies that mandate educators to inform parents if their child requests to use pronouns or facilities different from the gender assigned at birth.

The law, which takes effect immediately, also protects teachers and administrators from retaliation if they choose not to follow district directives to out queer students to their parents. Additionally, it provides funding for resources to assist parents and families of queer students in having supportive conversations about their identities, ensuring that these discussions occur in a way that makes the children feel safe and respected.

The SAFETY Act — Support Academic Futures & Educators for Today’s Youth — passed the state Assembly in June by a vote of 60-15.

Forced outing policies have proliferated in California since 2023, with more than a dozen school districts implementing rules to notify parents and guardians of students who identify as trans or a gender different from the one listed on their birth certificate.

“The very personal decision for a student to come out should be on their own terms to whoever they choose to share that information with when they are ready,” said the bill’s author, San Diego Assemblyman Chris Ward (D), in a statement. “Teachers should not be the gender police.”

“In California, LGBTQ+ students — like all students — have the right to a safe and welcoming school environment,” Becca Cramer-Mowder with ACLU California Action said in a statement.

“With the Governor’s signature, our state becomes the first in the country to ensure protections against forced outing in school are clearly enshrined in statute,” she added. “LGBTQ+ students and their families deserve to decide on their own terms when and how to have conversations about coming out.”

Eight red states have enacted legislation mandating schools out trans students, while another five have passed laws promoting parental notification, according to the Movement Advancement Project.

In California, the policies have become a lightning rod, particularly in conservative inland areas of the state.

In April, a defiant conservative majority on the board of the Murrieta Valley Unified School District in Riverside County voted to ignore an order from the state to rescind a parental notification policy. A packed audience in the ruby red district cheered the result when it occurred.

Similar battles are being waged in other Riverside County school districts, including Temecula and Chino, both hotbeds of “parental rights” activism.

“We will continue to stand strong, linked arms all over California, to ensure the government does not infringe on parental rights — period,” Chino Valley School Board President Sonja Shaw said earlier this year.

A state investigation in Murrieta was prompted after two teachers filed a complaint. One was filed by 6th and 7th grade teacher Karen Poznanski, who is also a district parent with a nonbinary child.

“This policy, whether enforced or not, hindered our LGBTQ+ students from living authentically,” Poznanski told The Los Angeles Times. “Moreover, it not only compromised their privacy and dignity, but also perpetuated harm and discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals and their families.”

In a statement, the state LGBTQ+ advocacy organization Equality California said, “We are grateful to Governor Newsom for demonstrating his unwavering commitment to the LGBTQ+ community by signing the SAFETY Act into law. Over the past year, more than a dozen extremist school boards across California have considered or passed these harmful policies that openly discriminate against transgender students and prevent them from safely being themselves at school.”

“The SAFETY Act could not be more timely or necessary, and LGBTQ+ students across California can breathe a sigh of relief following today’s action by the Governor,” the statement continued. “LGBTQ+ youth across California can now have these important family conversations when they are ready and in ways that strengthen the relationship between parent and child, not as a result of extremist politicians intruding into the parent-child relationship.”