California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the nation’s first law banning teachers from disclosing students’ gender identity changes to parents on July 15. This law came after a dozen California school boards implemented policies requiring schools to notify parents of such changes.
Conservative states have enacted similar policies as part of the parental rights movement, which has gained traction in Southern California. The Chino Valley Unified School District attempted to sue Newsom on July 17, arguing that the new law violates parental rights under the U.S. Constitution.
English teacher Lynn Rose, whose youngest child, Beck, identifies as non-binary, understands that children can hesitate at being transparent with their parents. As a teacher who supported the addition of “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe,” a novel about two gay adolescents, into the Lit/Writ curriculum and an avid demonstrator in women’s marches, Rose made it a priority to make home a place where Beck felt comfortable coming out.
“I understand the frustration on the parents’ part,” Rose said. “But I don’t think it’s anybody’s right to out a student without their permission. There are sometimes dangerous situations if students are outed to their parents before they are ready, especially depending on the family situation.”
According to the Trevor Project, less than 40% of students nationwide believed their household was accepting of gender identity and orientation changes in 2023. Junior Rowan Chang, who identifies as transgender, believes this law would benefit students in possibly unsafe households.
“If the parents are not supportive, then maybe the student has a good reason to not tell them,” Chang said. “I think it’s important for that discussion to be held on the students’ terms and not by the school.”
However, even with the new law parents may still be made aware of gender identity changes through educational documents, especially if students make official changes in Infinite Campus. Administrator Trudy Gross explains that changes to students’ names and pronouns via the FUHSD Records Change Request would be visible to parents.
“We do recognize that there are students who want the change and may not be in a position to either disclose it at home, or it is not supported at home, even if the parents are aware,” Gross said. “We have a process by which the student can go through the transition without a parent, but then they acknowledge that they are aware that parents would then have access to that information.”
In the second semester of the 2023-24 school year, Chang changed his first name to Rowan and began using this name in classes. While he also came out to parents, Chang says that they do not want him to change his name officially on school records, which left him to unofficially go by his new name.
“Mainly the reason why I haven’t done that form is because I don’t want changes to show up on those records that my parents can see,” Chang said. “Students should be aware of that consequence.”
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, known as FERPA, is a federal law that comes into conflict with California state law, as it gives parents the right to view and request changes to educational records until their child is of age. To ensure the district was not in violation of FERPA, district officials met with attorneys in the past.
According to Gross, FUHSD is not at odds with the new legislation, since staff have not been actively informing parents of students’ gender changes.
For students who submit gender and name change requests without parent support, FUHSD has a separate acknowledgment form to notify students that these changes are visible across educational records. Gross recalls that the district has seen instances where guardians, under FERPA rights, undo the changes their student made to names and pronouns.
“As a person who is gay, I know what it means to be outed,” Gross said. “Unfortunately, the way that records are maintained in a school system, people could have access to the information, but it is not actively outing somebody.”
According to Rose, Beck has plans to pursue a career in family therapy, as they believe that there was a shortage of therapists when they needed it in high school. Rose says she told Beck, who is currently studying at University of San Francisco, to consider never leaving the state for their safety.
From her experience as a mother, Rose does not believe that parents have a right to know their child’s gender change without proper consent. Gross affirms Rose’s sentiment and says no one holds the right to out a child.
“It’s your own personal decision around how you express yourself,” Gross said. “There’s always a great worry about ‘will I be accepted?’”
