A parental rights advocacy group in Orange County, California, has raised the alarm about a local school district initiating gender support plans for 23 students, eight of them elementary-aged, without informing their parents.
California Alliance for Education obtained documents from the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, which oversees pre-K through grade 12 schools in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa, revealing the plans. Kim Davis, a pseudonym used by a parent rights advocate affiliated with the alliance, told The Epoch Times that the student was asked if they would like their parents included in the meeting or to know about the plan and were then allowed to make the decision.
The emails and documents obtained by The Epoch Times revealed that the district had plans to place mental health counselors in elementary schools to initiate the plans without parental consent and that an elementary school principal and a director of student services discussed adding these counselors.
Additionally, an activity called Gender and Sexuality Galaxies, produced by the progressive organization Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights, was sent to district counselors and psychologists, and a middle school mental health provider pushed back against the materials. The diagrams depict 10 gender identities and 12 sexual orientation choices, with infinite possibilities of gender expression, and instruct instructors to ask students to imagine themselves as existing within the Gender Galaxy and the Sexuality Galaxy and imagine themselves as a space traveler as they write or draw their own story of planetary and space exploration.
The district is required by anti-discrimination and privacy laws, including Assembly Bill (AB) 1266, to maintain confidentiality regarding a students gender support plan and preferred pronouns unless the student gives staff permission to inform their parents or guardians.
However, according to Davis, this isnt the law, as AB 1266 only states that students must be permitted to participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, and use facilities consistent with their gender identity without regard to their biological sex.
Davis believes the California Department of Educations guidelines are likely to be unlawful, citing provisions under the California Education codes and the Protection of Pupils Rights Amendment (PPRA) Act, which states that parents have a right to know and direct the upbringing of their children. According to these guidelines, teachers must call a student by the childs preferred pronouns at school but use the students natural or birth pronouns when they communicate with the childs parents or face possible criminal charges for harassment.
Haley Jenkins, a parent who pulled her children out of the school district, said that the emails exchanged between school staff are really concerning, emphasizing that every parent deserves to know if something serious like that is happening at school. She added that parents are not aware of what the counselors are speaking to their children about, but that these counselors are the ones initiating the Gender Support Plans. Jenkins also pointed out that Newport Harbor High School had links on its website to resources for lawyers, doctors, and surgeons that are actively pushing gender-affirming care, as well as a link to a meet-and-greet event with the surgeons at the University of CaliforniaIrvine, and places to get chest binders.
To address these issues, Republicans have introduced state and federal legislation this week to defund states that allow the secret transitioning of minors at schools. U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) introduced HR 1585, a House of Representatives bill that would block funds for states that allow such transitioning.
Meanwhile, California Assemblymen Bill Essayli (R-Riverside) and James Gallagher (R-Yuba City) introduced Assembly Bill 1314, which would require teachers, counselors, and other school staff to notify parents in writing within three days if they find a student is identifying as a gender other than what is stated on their birth certificate. If passed, this proposed legislation would end the current policy of keeping the gender transition of some students secret in California.
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