LGBTQ+ students in conservative crosshairs

LGBTQ+ students are the latest target in a campaign to promote conservative policies in California schools under the banner of parental rights. Over the last two months, seven school boards have passed policies that require school district staff to inform parents if their children are transgender.

Chino Valley Unified in San Bernardino County, Murrieta Valley Unified and Temecula Valley Unified in Riverside County, Orange Unified in Orange County, Anderson Union High School District in Shasta County, and Rocklin Unified and Dry Creek Joint Elementary School District in Placer County all require that teachers and other school staff inform parents, generally within three days, if a student asks to use a different name or pronoun, or to take part in a program, or to use a facility associated with a gender other than the one they had at birth.

Other school districts will follow, predicted Jonathan Zachreson, a Roseville City Unified board member and conservative activist. Almost every school district in Placer County, near Sacramento, is expected to consider the policy, he said.

Proponents of the parental notification policies have said that parents have the right to know what is going on with their children at school and that minors do not have a right to privacy. Opponents say these policies could endanger already vulnerable students who should be able to decide when they want to come out to their parents.

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