Lawsuit filed against Gov. Gavin Newsom over California gender identity notification law

The Liberty Justice Center, a national ligitation firm, has filed a lawsuit against Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday, challenging a new law that prohibits California school districts from notifying parents of a child’s gender identification change.

The filing was announced on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The lawsuit names Newsom, California Attorney General Robert Bonta and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond. It was filed on behalf of the Chino Valley Unified School District, which implemented the controversial policy last year, and parents with children in the state’s public school system.

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“PK-12 minor students, most of whom are too young to drive, vote, or provide medical consent for themselves, are also too young to make life-altering decisions about their expressed gender identity without their parents’ knowledge. But that is precisely what AB 1955 enables—with potentially devastating consequences for children too young to fully comprehend them,” Emily Rae, senior counsel at the Liberty Justice Center, said in a statement.

“School officials do not have the right to keep secrets from parents, but parents do have a constitutional right to know what their minor children are doing at school. Parents are the legal guardians of their children, not Governor Newsom, Attorney General Bonta, or Superintendent Thurmond. We will continue to defend parents’ rights and children’s well-being by challenging invasive laws like AB 1955 in court, at no cost to taxpayers.”

The governor’s press office responded to the lawsuit filing on X.

“AB1955 preserves the child-parent relationship. California law ensures minors can’t legally change their name or gender without parental consent, and parents continue to have guaranteed and full access to their students’ educational records consistent with federal law. We’re confident the state will swiftly prevail in this case,” the post said in part.

Many opponents and supporters of the law have expressed their opinions on social media.

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Most notably, Elon Musk, who runs SpaceX, X and Tesla, announced Tuesday that he would move the space and social media companies headquarters out of California after Newsom signed AB1955 into law.

Musk moved the Tesla corporate headquarters to Austin from Palo Alto in 2021 but later announced plans to move back in 2023.

The recently filed lawsuit is pending in court.

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